Eddie gives England a Stevie G up
COACH JONES: YOUNG VILLA BOSS IS IMPRESSIVE AND HELPED MY FOCUS
EDDIE JONES’ England have turned to Steven Gerrard – and a psychologist who has worked with psychopaths – to help make them a Six Nations force again.
Last season’s fifth-place finish was an embarrassment to the most lavishly resourced nation in the championship, so head coach Jones has left no stone unturned in his quest to avoid a repeat.
As well as a squad overhaul, which saw six uncapped players named last week, the England chief has been busy studying how other coaches work.
“I was lucky enough to visit Aston Villa and met with Steve Gerrard – I’ve been getting around and trying to pick up a bit of information on how we can do things better,” said Jones (below).
“He was very impressive for a young coach, very mature beyond his age. You can see, in the way he conducts himself at Villa, that he is going to be a very good coach in the future.
“I’ve just finished with Jesse Marsch, who’s at RB Leipzig, chatting to him about what they do, and we went up to the Red Bull F1 headquarters at Milton Keynes before autumn. I was impressed by their attention to detail.”
But the link that will raise the most eyebrows is with Dr Nashater Deu Solheim – a psychologist who used to carry out risk assessments on murderers in high-security prisons.
England’s discipline was much improved in the autumn – but Jones believes Dr Solheim will assist the coaching team in getting messages across more clearly.
“She is a forensic psychologist who has written a book called PIN Code, and she is working with our coaches in helping us to improve communication skills,” said Jones.
“It is hard to get advantages in the game now. The frontier for rugby, where you can get the most bang for your buck, is in creating the right mindset for your team and in the use of data.”
England will meet up for a five-day training camp in Brighton tomorrow, ahead of their opening game against Scotland on February 5.
The trip to Murrayfield is likely to see the mothballing of Jones’ experiment to turn Tom Curry into a No.8, with the Sale star set for No.7.
Jones said: “He’s learning how to play No.8 better, but No.7 is probably his preferred position and, if it suits the team and the way we want to play, then we will play him at No.7.
“He’s got the ability to play either or No.6, he adjusts his game accordingly. He’s going to be one of the best players anywhere by the World Cup in 2023.”
England face three away matches this campaign, including the final game in France where new legislation banning the unvaccinated from sports stadia could affect selection.
Jones added: “The week before, we’ll work out what France are going to allow. Conditions and regulations are changing all the time for countries.
“We don’t share individuals’ vaccination status, but, for the autumn, we were at around 85 per cent and I’d imagine we’d be similar for this tournament.
“I don’t encourage or discourage vaccinations – I see it as very personal.”