Even I fear the axe says Jones
EDDIE JONES may be England’s Midas man but despite 15 straight wins under him – and an inevitable 16th against Italy tomorrow – he still does not feel bulletproof.
The madness that has consumed Leicester City might have appeared a million miles away as England put the finishing touches to their preparation for this Six Nations mismatch at Twickenham.
But as the ripples from Claudio Ranieri’s sacking reached England’s Pennyhill Park training base, their head coach warned that football’s hire ’em and fire ’em culture is headed rugby union’s way – and he will be no more immune than anyone else from its fallout.
“I wasn’t surprised because you know how football thinks. Rugby will be the same, there’s no doubt, because everyone wants instant results. I’ll lose a game and people will be asking, ‘when’s he on the plane home?’ That’s the reality of sport these days,” said Jones.
“I don’t know Ranieri but I know people that do and they all speak of him very highly as a man and as an incredibly humble, respectful coach. The team are not performing this year but it’s saddening when you see someone who has done something absolutely marvellous being sacked.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever been sacked but it’s a humiliating experience. He won’t be walking round Leicester with his head held high today, he’ll be feeling terrible.
“It could happen here. Nothing surprises me. Every sport gets more commercial and when it gets more commercial, people want short-term fixes but the reality in sport is that you don’t get quick fixes.”
Across the Channel, Guy Noves is already coming under pressure 15 months in despite the signs of progress in France’s game.
The England job has proved relatively stable with Jones the sixth head coach in the last 20 years and it appears unthinkable that the RFU would dispense with Jones before his contract expires after the 2019 World Cup.
But fortunes can change quickly in sport, as Leicester City have found, a point Jones made yesterday to the squad.
Captain Dylan Hartley said: “We looked at an article a while ago and I don’t know if it was the club or Ranieri getting ruthless because they had a bad loss. The message to us was you don’t get ruthless after a bad loss – you get ruthless while winning.
“Our message last week was let’s get ruthless now, not take our foot off the gas and let’s train harder because who else will be training as hard as us? This week again is the time to be ruthless.”
Hartley’s retention in the line-up shows Jones’s keenness to head off speculation over his future as captain although it was a trick missed for the unlucky Jamie George.
A keen cricket fan, George’s consolation came through lunch with Alastair Cook – the latest sporting star turn through England’s gates this week after Antonio Conte and Alan Pardew. Cook, a Northampton Saints fan, is a friend of Hartley’s, having shared “a few pints” after a Q&A session at a pub at Christmas. “We try to get guys who are great examples of leadership and get them to talk to the players. One of the ways to encourage players to be better leaders is to talk to guys who are better than they are,” said Jones. England have to experiment against Italy, with Ben Te’o given a first Test start at outside-centre. Jonny May is back on the wing after Anthony Watson was adjudged not fit enough yet after injury, James Haskell returns at flanker and Danny Care starts a first Test in almost a year at scrum-half. That means Ben Youngs sits next to fit-again Mako Vunipola on what Jones trumpets as “the best bench in the world”. It could be a long 80 minutes for the Italy side.