Jones expects axe if England flop
English coach Eddie Jones does not fear the sack despite admitting he would expect his job to be on the line if his below-strength team have a disastrous campaign in next month’s internationals.
The Australian said that the four tests were essentially “sparring, practice rounds” ahead of the real business of winning the Rugby World Cup in Japan in a year’s time.
“We don’t need to win any of them,” said Jones. “If we don’t win any, I’m probably not going to be here, so we [do] need to win a few. If they [the Rugby Football Union] come and tap me on the shoulder tomorrow and told me I wasn’t in the job, then so be it.”
Jones has lost 320 caps from his frontline group, forcing him to select eight uncapped players in the 36-man squad that heads into camp in Portugal next Thursday to prepare for the opening fixture against South Africa at Twickenham on November 3. Yet Jones insists that he is under no more pressure than normal, even though England have won only one of their last six tests, declaring that defeat against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia would not be a terminal jolt to World Cup hopes.
“My job is to maximise what I have. What I’ve learned about World Cups is that the only time you need to be at your best is at the World Cup. All the leading up to it is sparring, practice rounds, getting combinations right.
“We need our best players to be fit for the crux games, which are going to be in the later rounds of the pool. When I took the job on I knew the situation, knew what the challenges were,” he said. “Of course we want to win every game but the reality is that sometimes you don’t. What’s important is you keep moving forward and sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t tell you you’re moving forward.”
The “shifting sands” caused by injuries and suspensions has forced Jones to contend with what he admits is a “challenging” situation, notably in the forwards. Jones made no attempt to disguise the enormous loss to the team’s ball-carrying impact that has resulted from the injuries to the Vunipola brothers, Billy and Mako, as well as Wasps lock Joe Launchbury.
“In terms of the way we play the game, we will definitely miss them.”
New-look England have the same long-standing imperative — to win at Twickenham. On that rests so much.