Eddie has to be a 10/10 coach again to rule the world
England can still enter the World Cup as one of the favourites but they need coach Eddie Jones back to his very best, an unblemished 12 months on and off the field starting today and the maximum performance from the exceptional talent at his disposal.
Eddie was very upbeat after Saturday’s win even though it was a poor match and South africa made it easy for them by chopping and changing.
I share his optimism. Even during a pretty desperate run this season, I’ve seen evidence of players who can challenge for the ultimate prize.
But Eddie has to get back to his best. He was a 10/10 coach during his first two seasons in charge. But, if he is being brutally honest, he has dropped right off in 2018 and possibly the past 12 months.
I would love to know if there is any real appraisal of his performance from the RFU over the past year outside of his win/loss record and, if so, who is doing it?
Why has it taken so long to appreciate that danny Cipriani has a role to play? What is England’s first-choice XV? Why have the players been getting injured so often in training and why have relations with the clubs deteriorated? Why has he allowed there to be so much unnecessary noise and distraction around his team?
It’s time to take stock, then go again with a fresh and re- energised mind. He needs to concentrate 100 per cent on coaching — he is an excellent hands-on coach — and guide this side back to where they were 12 months ago.
no sideshows, no distractions, no gimmicks, no winding up the opposition and no mind games.
The clouds have lifted a little, and that always helps, but I also detect some other positives from a fraught end to the season.
MATURE CIPRIANI BACK ON BOARD
HE is a superb natural talent who now has a maturity that perhaps he lacked earlier in his career. He must now go into the november internationals as England’s firstchoice no 10, while also being mindful that george Ford remains a fine talent and can still contribute. Competition is always good and those two are now the options going forward.
It has never made sense for England to deny themselves the Cipriani option. He’s a really valuable card to play. I would start him and am excited by what he and Owen Farrell could achieve in harness but I can never remember him failing to make an impact off the bench either.
EMERGENCE OF DANGEROUS MAY
HE has always been an exciting, if eccentric talent, but I’ve been blown away by the quality and consistency of his play recently, in both attack and defence. May is scoring high-quality tries for fun and looking dangerous every time he has the ball, while his defence has been brave and clever. Unquestionably, he has been England’s player of the tour.
RAPID RISE OF FLANKER CURRY
I WaS worried after the first Test when, along with most of the England pack, he struggled a little after the first 20-minute blitz. I wasn’t worried by a lack of talent, just that at the age of 20 he is still young for a top-class flanker.
Well, I was wrong. He is clearly a fast learner and he has got stronger throughout the series. He was England’s best forward in the second-Test loss and he again led the effort up front on Saturday.
Curry is not flash but he hits very hard, is beginning to poach some valuable ball and doesn’t take a backward step. Mentally he has got it and I also like the mature way he talks afterwards. He started all three games, which suggests to me that Eddie has now decided Curry is the man going forward at seven.
FARRELL LEARNING ROPES AS SKIPPER
WE don’t really know whether dylan Hartley will return and assume the captaincy and starting role at hooker or whether those days are gone.
If Jamie george is first- choice hooker, England will need a new captain on the field and Farrell is the obvious choice.
His first three games in charge were far from easy and, in the first Test at Ellis Park, he was too strident with the referee with his complaining and shouting.
as captain you have to play it slightly differently than when you are a trooper. You must establish a rapport and working relationship and, by Saturday in Cape Town, he seemed to have taken that on board. He also kicked brilliantly in poor conditions and it was encouraging to see him combine the captaincy with a very fine individual performance.
So it’s by no means all doom and gloom — far from it. There are some quality players waiting in the wings to be fed back into the equation — Hartley, george Kruis, Courtney lawes, Jonathan Joseph, Ben Te’o, Jack nowell and anthony Watson — while hopefully Billy Vunipola can finally enjoy some luck with injuries.
Just getting into the England squad will be a challenge next season but Eddie has to start harnessing all that talent by making clear-headed selections.
Eddie has big decisions ahead of him. get them right and England will soar, get them wrong and the difficulties he has endured this season will only become greater.
If Jones can get himself back to his best then England really do have a fighting chance.