Jones faces firing squad
THE clamour swirling around Eddie Jones’ future after five successive test defeats has striking similarities to the situation he found himself in as Australia coach in 2005.
As Jones headed across the lobby of the Cardiff Hilton Hotel on the eve of the game against Wales in November that year, he was pondering how to sustain the mini-upturn recorded the previous week when Australia had beaten Ireland after seven defeats in a row.
The Australian was intercepted by veteran Sydney Morning Herald reporter Greg Growden, who told the coach that the paper was running a splash the next morning saying that Jones would be sacked no matter the result against Wales.
Growden wanted a formal response, Jones was understandably angered but did return to provide a quote which bore all the hallmarks of the comments made by him last weekend following England’s series loss to South Africa, namely: ‘‘The only thing I try to do is coach the team well.’’
As Growden left the lobby, he bumped into a Wallaby forward, who asked him why he was looking so serious. Growden related what was due to happen to Jones. ‘‘Fair enough,’’ said the player.
As Jones approaches the dead-rubber third test at Newlands today, it is only fair to point out that things have not yet come to such a pass with England. However, no team and no union can keep losing without repercussions at some point, especially if the slump continued at Twickenham in November in front of a home crowd.
Jones does have his supporters, understandably so given his impressive track record. Those who were closely involved with him back then believe that the Australian has the strength of character, as well as rugby acumen, to survive.
‘‘Eddie lives by the sword and dies by the sword,’’ says George Gregan, who endured calls for the pair of them to go. ‘‘ The [Australian] union probably wanted two heads at the time and they got Eddie’s. You do wonder if it was the right decision to get rid of him. Certainly the Wallabies didn’t find any more consistency.’’
England have had considerable success under Jones, as did Australia, rounding off 2004 with a victory at Twickenham and starting their annus horribilis with a 74-7 win over Samoa. But there had been off-field incidents as well as boardroom in-fighting that suggested things might be unravelling. Fast-forward to 2018, and the RFU is braced for swingeing redundancies, with all the upset and turmoil such situations invariably trigger. – The Telegraph