Is Jones losing his touch with England?
LONDON: Even New Zealand suffer defeat now again, but losing five matches in a row is a worrying sign for a team with ambitions of dethroning the champion All Blacks at next year’s World Cup in Japan.
Yet that is the position an England side coached by Eddie Jones are in after Saturday’s 42- 39 defeat by South Africa in Johannesburg.
It was only in January that England’s governing Rugby Football Union announced a contract extension for Jones.
Back then, the former Australia and Japan coach had won 22 of his then 23 Tests in charge of England since taking over after their firstround exit on home soil at the 2015 World Cup.
The dissenters, who pointed out there was no need for an extended deal at this stage and that none of Jones ’ s previous coaching j obs h ad l a s t ed longer than four years, were told by RFU chief executive Steve Brown “a robust succession planning process” would avoid the “disruptive pattern” of changing the backroom team after a World Cup.
That may be true, but it is the immediate present that is England’s greatest concern. A run of three successive Six Nations losses to Scotland, France and Grand Slam champions Ireland condemned England, who had been a bidding for a third straight title, to a fifth-placed finish – their worst in the Championship since 1983. When he took over, Jones said he wanted to build a side based on the traditional English strength of a solid forward pack that would dominate the set-piece. Yet this season’s Six Nations saw cracks appear as England’s European rivals challenged the Jones juggernaut with a fastpaced game. Saturday’s loss, a fifth in a row including a non- cap defeat by the Barbarians, was made all the more remarkable given England had surged into a 24-3 lead against a Springbok side missing its two leading hookers and first- choice locks. Once again England’s f ami l i a r f a i l i ng s – the breakdown, a high penalty count and an inabi lity to adapt to changing circumstances, as well as defensive frailty, returned to haunt them. Yet the match pr o duc e d s ome of England’s best attacking rugby of the Jones era, making their inability to close out the game out all the more frustrating. — AFP