ENGLAND WIZARD JONES HAS NO INTEREST IN COACHING THE LIONS:
EDDIE JONES has dismissed any prospect of taking charge of the Lions next summer, despite a growing clamour for the Australian to be handed the role.
Bookmakers slashed the odds of the England head coach leading the 2017 British and Irish tour to New Zealand on the back of his side’s 23-7 victory over the Wallabies in Melbourne on Saturday, which clinched a first English series triumph against any of the southern hemisphere superpowers.
Lions chief executive John Feehan told Sportsmail last weekend that Jones would be a prime contender if he expressed an interest in the job, but that is not going to happen.
In the aftermath of England’s historic feat at AAMI Park, he was asked about it and made his stance clear. ‘I’m completely unavailable,’ he said. ‘I signed a four-year contract to make England the best team in the world and I’m going to spend every minute I have doing that. If I took the Lions job, I’d have to spend anything from six to 12 months not doing that.’
Wales head coach Warren Gatland is the front-runner to take charge of the Lions again, but on Saturday his side slipped to a series defeat against the All Blacks. Ireland’s Joe Schmidt has already ruled himself out.
Yet, while Jones is adamant that he will not re-think his position on the matter, he is optimistic that there will be a substantial England contingent in the squad to take on the All Blacks.
‘I’d be hopeful of missing at least 15,’ he said, in reference to the England tour of Argentina, which will take place at the same time.
It would be hard to argue with that assessment after Saturday’s performance.
After a defensive masterclass to claim series victory in Melbourne, the tourists want to go for the jugular despite the disruptive impact of having to change a winning team.
Never before have they trumped one of the southern hemisphere superpowers beyond the confines of a one-off result.
To achieve it will require a confidence trick on the part of Jones and his assistants, not to mention the striking of a delicate balance.
The coaching staff need to re-energise a wounded line-up, without losing momentum, cohesion and that intangible collective belief that they have these vaunted opponents on the run. Exeter wing Jack Nowell’s availability for the final Test is in doubt due to concussion, while James Haskell, the veteran flanker, had his left leg in a protective boot due to a foot injury. Haskell tackled himself to a standstill as part of the monumental rearguard action at AAMI Park which kept the hosts at bay despite their overwhelming dominance of possession and territory in a relentless second-half onslaught. But he was far from alone in committing body and soul. On that basis, Jones will undertake a selection reshuffle this week. ‘There’ll be a few changes,’ said the head coach, who has now presided over eight wins in as many Tests.
‘In all honesty, when I looked at the team, there were some guys there with only 80 minutes left in them. They’ve been going since June last year. Some are starting to show some signs of battle weariness, so we’re going to have to make some changes.’
Only one country in the world have consistently shown the ability to rotate their playing resources and not miss a beat.
The All Blacks are a team apart in that sense, but Jones wants England to show just the same knack this week.
Asked what would be the inspiration for the visitors’ clean-sweep crusade with a revised starting XV, he said: ‘The All Blacks. We want to beat the All Blacks. If they were here, they’d be able to make five changes and beat the opposition 3-0.
‘We want to win 3-0, then no one can argue that you’re not the better team. You win a series 3-0 and no one can say: “It’s this referee’s decision, they did this, that, we weren’t happy with this”. You win 3-0, then people have to say: “This team is conclusively better than the other team”.’
England’s resistance was summed up when they repelled a 21-phase blitz just before half-time.
Captain Dylan Hartley, who had already scored a try by then, from a lineout drive, said: ‘We train for those situations, 20-odd phases. While it is physically draining, the reward and morale lift you get after not letting someone over your try line is huge. You’re basically saying: “Not today”.’
Later, when the visitors were almost out on their feet from all the desperate scrambling to protect their lead, it was fitting that another brutal tackle should pave the way for their second try, by Owen Farrell (below left).
Jamie George was acclaimed for his awareness in kicking into the 22, but seconds earlier Maro Itoje had emphatically flattened Scott Fardy to allow England the rare luxury of having the ball.
Today, England will be back in training, ready to go again.
‘You want to earn the respect of your team-mates and your opposition — and you can only do that by doing it again and again and again,’ said Farrell. ‘We have come out here to win the games and it doesn’t change now that we have won the series.’
Hartley is adamant that he and his team-mates can summon up the will for a whitewash.
‘The true challenge is how we want to leave this tour,’ said the skipper.
‘Do we want to be 2-1 or 3-0? I want to be 3-0. So we need to enjoy this, but then we will flick the switch and go again.’