Jones: ‘I got it wrong’
England coach Eddie Jones believes he made a selection error for the Rugby World Cup final against South Africa, admitting he missed an opportunity to refresh his squad following the semifinal victory over New Zealand.
Jones is overseeing the Barbarians this week for the invitational side’s match against Fiji at Twickenham in London on Sunday (NZ time), something he labelled as ‘‘a great honour’’.
The game comes just a fortnight after England’s comprehensive 32-12 loss to the Springboks in Yokohama and Jones said he might never be able to watch the final.
‘‘I haven’t watched it and I probably won’t watch it,’’ he said. ‘‘But I know in my head where we could have probably made improvements. One area was that I probably made a mistake in terms of selection. That’s all with the benefit of hindsight, but I should have refreshed the team for the final.
‘‘Apart from that, it was one of those days. Sometimes they start the game brilliantly and things come off for them.
‘‘We started the game a little bit off, lacking a tiny bit of energy because we’d played four big games in a row. That’s the reality of it – we just came unstuck.’’
On the back of a 19-7 victory over the All Blacks, Jones kept the same starting team for England, with just a single change on the bench, where halfback Ben Spencer replaced the injured Willi Heinz.
Conversely, between the quarterfinal against Australia and the semifinal against New Zealand, Jones had mixed up his midfield partnership. Captain Owen Farrell impressed from first fiveeighth against the Wallabies with Manu Tuilagi at second-five and Henry Slade wearing 13.
George Ford, outstanding in the pool stages, came off the bench in the quarterfinal before returning to start against the All Blacks. Slade was among the replacements as Tuilagi formed a centre partnership with Farrell. Jones then kept that same arrangement for the final.
He would not elaborate on the specific selections that he would alter, but did say that the disappointment would linger.
‘‘It’s replayed every day,’’ he said. ‘‘Every time I wake up the World Cup is there in front of me. It’s there all the time and will be for a while.
‘‘But you have to move on, and coaching the Barbarians is a chance to do that.’’
Ironically, three world champions are in Jones’ Barbarians squad this weekend – Tendai ‘‘Beast’’ Mtawarira,
Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi. It was Am and Mapimpi who combined brilliantly for South Africa’s first try in the final, while Mtawarira dismantled England’s scrum with a destructive performance from loosehead prop.
‘‘He was instrumental in the Springboks’ World Cup win,’’ Jones said. ‘‘But I’m so pleased for those South African players. You can see what a galvanising effect it’s had on the country. That dampens the hardship a bit.’’
Reiterating his aim to see out his current contract with the Rugby Football Union, which runs until 2021, Jones said ‘‘nobody knows’’ whether he will be at the helm for the 2023 World Cup campaign.
An official review of the 2019 tournament will finish shortly, and at that point Jones will refresh his back-room team. Defence coach John Mitchell, also with the Barbarians this week, is expected to remain, but scrum coach Neal Hatley has joined Bath.
Attack coach Scott Wisemantel has been linked with a role in Australia’s setup, while reports have suggested that forwards coach Steve Borthwick is weighing up a move to Leicester.
‘‘We’ve got a Six Nations coming up pretty shortly,’’ Jones said. ‘‘I’ve already been out looking for players, so we’re into the next cycle.’’
– The Telegraph