KNIVES ARE OUT FOR ME
Defiant Eddie insists he’s loving England pressure but admits…
EDDIE JONES is relishing the predicament he finds himself in: being written off as a doomed head coach of England.
In fact, he claimed to be ‘loving it’ — and he has no intention of walking away.
Saturday’s defeat against the Springboks in Bloemfontein meant the Test series was surrendered, and extended England’s losing run to six games.
The dismal sequence has raised doubts about Jones’s future in charge of the national team and although his position is understood to be safe for now, he has not received timely public backing from senior RFU figures. Instead, Jones spoke up for himself in a display of defiance.
‘The only thing I do is try to coach the team well,’ he said. ‘That’s what I’m paid to do and that’s what I try to do every day. If someone decides that’s not good enough, then they decide. If someone decides I’m good enough then I will keep coaching. That’s what I’ve done with every team I’ve coached.’
Asked if he felt he retained the support of RFU chief executive Steve Brown, he added: ‘I don’t ask for his full support. I do my job. I focus on coaching the team as well as I can. I’m not involved in those decisions and that is all I worry about.’
The Australian is experienced enough to have found himself in some tight corners in the past. And he insisted that being under fire again is a situation he is embracing.
‘when you are doing well, everyone pats you on the back and when you are not doing well, you’re pulling knives out of your back,’ he said. ‘I’ve been through it before many times. If you coach for a long period of time you have your good periods and your bad periods. These are the great periods. These are the periods you look forward to where everyone thinks you’re done and you have to find a way to win.
‘I’m enjoying it, loving it — absolutely loving it.
‘I 100 per cent knew it was coming. You can’t expect to just keep winning endlessly. And a lot of the wins, we had luck on our side. You get that, then you have these other periods which are bloody tough when you don’t get any luck.
‘ Have we gone backwards now? of course we have, because we’ve started a new team. You’re never glad (to lose), but the reality is you’re always going to get it.’
A bullish Jones even suggested that England’s world Cup hopes have been improved by this period of turbulence.
Meanwhile, South Africa No 8 Duane Vermeulen — man of the match in the hosts’ 23-12 victory on Saturday — has added salt to the wounds.
He claims they will be chronically weakened by the loss of his opposite number, Billy Vunipola, who broke his arm in the second Test, forcing him to return home early.
‘He is England’s go-forward guy and without him, I saw in the Six Nations they struggled,’ he said. ‘ They need that guy. That is a big loss if he is out.’
There is speculation that Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus will rotate his squad for Saturday’s final Test in Cape Town.
Vermeulen added: ‘ we don’t know what team he will pick, but if we can win 3-0 then we want to do that. we’d like to go for the three-match clincher.’