GET A GRIP, EDDIE
Sir Clive warns Jones to ‘cut out the nonsense’
SIR CLIVE WOODWARD has warned Eddie Jones to ‘cut the nonsense’ following the England coach’s offensive comments about Ireland and Wales that emerged this week.
Jones was forced to issue a grovelling apology after a video surfaced of the Australian referring to tomorrow’s opponents at Twickenham as ‘scummy Irish’ and describing Wales as a ‘little s*** place’.
Writing in his exclusive Sportsmail column today, World Cup-winning coach Woodward says: ‘Eddie should cut out some of the distracting nonsense that is surrounding England. His ill-judged and frankly pathetic comments about the Welsh and Irish have come back to haunt him.
‘This is a major distraction ahead of a must-win game. We have seen a worrying pattern over the last month or so with Jones getting things wrong off the field and it can undermine the authority he enjoys with the team.
‘ Getting distracted is suicidal for any team, let alone the coach aiming to be the best.’
All coaches go through periods when everything they touch turns to dust — bad selections, clumsy comments, poor decisions — and Eddie Jones is experiencing that in spades right now.
Eddie and England are under severe pressure. Should he stay as coach? Absolutely. Should he get his head down and cut out some of the distracting nonsense around the squad? Absolutely.
There have been several serious gaffes, culminating in the release of a video with some ill-judged and frankly pathetic comments about the Welsh and Irish, just when he and the team did not need it.
I accept they were attempts at humour behind closed doors and things don’t always come out right when you are talking live. Having a friendly pop at each other is part of our rugby culture, but Eddie got this badly wrong.
He has been linked with the lions job in 2021, but that is another distraction he and England could do without. If you were making the call today, Eddie would be behind Joe Schmidt and possibly Gregor Townsend. And that’s before Warren Gatland decides whether he will throw his hat in the ring again.
It would be interesting to see how he would have handled this row had it been a player making these crazy comments. They were never going to sound good. Eddie knows this. Make no mistake, this is a major issue ahead of a must-win game and I can only imagine what the team room is like with these headlines swirling about.
The worrying thing is that we have seen a pattern emerging over the last month or so with the coach getting things wrong off the field and behind the scenes. It can undermine the authority he has with the team. Getting distracted is suicidal for any international rugby team, let alone the coach aiming to be the best.
The personal comments — some would say attacks — about Rhys Patchell and Alun Wyn Jones before the Wales match were totally unnecessary and served no purpose. Alun Wyn Jones’s diplomatic reply about ‘Uncle Eddie’ showed it all to be a bit of childish nonsense. After that game Eddie was short- tempered with the media when he defended Mike Brown as if it’s unthinkable that critics should ever question his selection.
Then there was the vile abuse he received from fans at a railway station in Manchester the morning after the Calcutta Cup defeat. Such behaviour from fans is unacceptable and Eddie has my sympathy, but you have to ask what on earth he was doing there in the first place.
The morning after any Test — let alone after a really poor performance against Scotland — is not the time to be heading to Manchester on an early train for an audience with Sir Alex Ferguson, no matter how attractive a proposition that might appear. This is the age of social media and this was almost an incident waiting to happen. Eddie needed to start preparations for the France game right there. He should have been encouraging the players and dispensing a few honest words. He needed to be sharing the disappointment of defeat with them. He also needed to be checking on injuries, perhaps doing more media work or dealing with any citing or story related to the game. The morning after a big match is an incredibly busy time.
We also had the extraordinary case of Marius van der Westhuizen, who was due to be the assistant referee at Twickenham tomorrow but who has now correctly been stood down after helping out with an England session this week.
I was gobsmacked when I heard of his participation in an England session in match week. That just can’t happen.
England should not have asked the official to attend and World Rugby should not have sanctioned it in the first place. JUST seven of the England team who started against Italy in the first game of the Six Nations will kick off against Ireland. That’s what happens when things start to go wrong.
I understand the changes with Owen Farrell going to No 10 and Richard Wigglesworth providing the continuity of an all-Saracens axis at half-back. Having said that, I would still have started Dan Robson ahead of him at scrumhalf, with Danny Care off the bench.
Eddie has retained the back three, which I like. They are all very good players and will deliver given the opportunity, but does Ben Te’o provide the world-class second playmaker option at 12 who can release the back three and Jonathan Joseph? let’s see. Up front we are about to discover if Kyle Sinckler can be trusted with starting duties at tighthead while Joe launchbury — man of the match against Wales a mere five weeks ago — will be reflecting on how fickle rugby can be at the top. Having said that, a hungry George Kruis is not a bad replacement. In the back row, having finally called up Don Armand, I would have started him at No 8 and moved the speedy Sam Simmonds to openside with Chris Robshaw. As a unit, England still look unbalanced.