Ruthless England learn lesson from Leicester debacle
Hartley says Leicester’s plight is a wake-up call Jones brings in four new faces for clash with Italy
England have already learned lessons from the plight of Leicester City and the events that led to the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri by adopting a “ruthless” approach to everything they do, including stepping up preparations to take on whipping-boys Italy tomorrow.
Eddie Jones has made four changes, including a first start for former rugby league player Ben Te’o, at outside centre, Danny Care returning at scrum-half, and recalls for James Haskell and Jonny May as the head coach mixes things up just enough to keep everyone sharp as they look to extend the unbeaten defence of their Grand Slam title.
The potential pitfalls that can attend success were discussed by the England squad a few weeks ago as they seek to guard against any complacency that might set in following their own achievements last year.
Jones has welcomed a succession of football managers into camp, from his international counterpart, Gareth Southgate, to Chelsea’s Antonio Conte. It was Jones’s captain, Dylan Hartley, who best articulated how beneficial this process of cross-fertilisation has been for England. “We looked at an article on Leicester City a couple of weeks ago that said they had become more ruthless in their approach but the message to us was that it was no point getting ruthless when you have lost, you must get ruthless when you are winning,” said Hartley. “That was what we took into or fallow week based in Kensington, when we vowed not to take our foot off the gas, to get better, to train even harder in that down period when no one else would be training as hard. That was the time to be ruthless.”
Jones has been preaching that mantra since he took over 15 months ago and if the Australian did need any reminding of the value of such an approach, then he got it from Conte two days ago when the manager of the Premier League leaders came into camp. There was no danger of any insider tips being traded, with Conte’s fellow Italians heading to Twickenham, and not just because the Azzurri are coached by an Irishman, an Englishman and a South African. “I don’t think Antonio knows much about rugby so I’m not too worried about him sharing our secrets with Italy,” said Jones. “He’s a very impressive guy. There aren’t too many Premier League teams that want to learn from rugby. He set up the appointment himself. I really like his attitude and his interest in the team.
“You can see from the way his team plays that they train to play hard – they run hard. And that comes from him. He has turned that [Diego] Costa into a bloke who was lazy into the bloke that plays hard for him every week. He obviously took him on, didn’t he? He was happy to say ‘you don’t want to do it my way, then you can go, son.’ I love that. That’s the only way you get performance. I don’t think there will be any players in a Conte dressing-room trying to shake the tree. It’s the same with our boys here.
“If they don’t want to run hard, they don’t want to train hard, they don’t have to be here. I learnt so much, honestly. The way you motivate your team is through new ideas. I said to our guys that Leicester are a great example of what happens with success and the blame that is there. The responsibility should be joint, the same as for us, from the kit-man to the tighthead prop.”
Even though Jones has been feted for the upturn in fortunes since the 2015 World Cup, he does not feel secure in the job and believes that rugby will follow the triggerhappy inclinations of football.
“Everything in life now is shortterm and you can understand why coaches are always looking over their shoulders,” said Jones, who signed a four-year deal through to the end of the 2019 World Cup. “It is saddening to see someone [Ranieri] who has done something absolutely marvellous, be sacked. If you have ever been sacked [Jones was by Australia in 2005] it is humiliating. Ranieri won’t be walking round Leicester today with his head held high. He’ll be feeling terrible. I don’t feel bullet-proof, no. These days everyone wants instant results. Rugby will be the same, there is no doubt. I lose a game and everyone will be asking what plane home I will be on. That is the reality of sport these days. Everyone wants quick fixes but the reality in sport is that you don’t get quick fixes.”
Jones underlined the fact that this England side has only just completed year one of a four-year project. Te’o’s selection at outside centre is down to Jones wanting “three options at 13”, believing that with Owen Farrell, Henry Slade and Te’o himself he is moving towards that stockpile in the inside-centre berth. He is adamant that the George Ford-Farrell axis has been “brilliant”. Bath’s Anthony Watson was not considered quite ready for selection after a hamstring injury, with the likelihood of either him or Elliot Daly being tried out at fullback still an option in the future.
England are the only Six Nations side never to have lost to Italy. And, with football firing a salutary warning, Jones’s men are unlikely to take anything for granted tomorrow.