The outsider Eddie Jones reveals what drives him on
Coach tells Gavin Mairs he has analysed England squad and thinks he has potential world beaters
Eddie Jones makes a startling revelation, and it is one that could prove critical to England’s World Cup hopes in Japan. “I have always been an outsider,” Jones says. “Because I am halfaustralian and half-japanese in Australia I am an outsider, and in Japan I am an outsider. In South Africa I was an outsider. It has always been the case.”
Nor does he yet feel like an honorary Englishman, even as he reaches the second anniversary of his appointment as England head coach, despite successive Six Nations titles. “I don’t really think about that,” Jones adds. “I put my heart on my sleeve. I can’t give any more, I can’t give any less. I give it everything I have got. I give the boys every bit of attention. So every minute that I have, I give it to developing the team.”
Yet it is not his famed work ethic that could be the point of difference in England’s World Cup plans. Jones may have received the ultimate endorsement by the rugby establishment in winning coach of the year in November. But he insists it is has been a skill cultivated as a perpetual outsider – to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different rugby cultures – that has shaped his coaching style and brought the best out of players.
He points to Australia’s famous victory over New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2003 World Cup in Sydney as a notable example, and he is attempting to do the same with England as he finetunes his plans for the tournament in Japan in 2019.
“The thing I remember the most was that there was a huge headline in the Sydney Morning Herald, the piece was written by Peter Fitzsimons, who I used to play with,” says Jones, recalling the 22-10 shock victory over All Blacks, overturning a 50-point reverse when they had last faced each other in July that year.
“He said something along the lines of ‘the Wallabies will be scared kangaroos in the headlights, they will freeze’. We did the exact opposite. We played with courage, we played with bravado.
“That is everything that Australian sport is about. That is what we are trying to do with England. It’s funny as an Australian I am trying to bring out the best in the English; they are tough, they want to fight, they want to keep going and that is how we want to play our rugby.”
To achieve that objective, Jones has broadened his outsider approach to use coaches from other sports or rugby cultures, such as Jason Ryles, the Melbourne Storm rugby league coach, Dean Amasinger, a former mixed martial arts fighter, and Jimmy Radcliffe, the University of Oregon’s strength and conditioning coach, on a consultative basis. It appears to be working. Jones had previously talked about English players being too reticent, but he believes their personalities now stand out.
“I think we have the right characters. Dylan [Hartley, England’s captain] has helped in that regard, Owen Farrell is naturally quite an aggressive person, so we have some great leaders there setting the example,” Jones adds. “Maro [Itoje] is a guy who doesn’t fear anything.”
Jones employed similar tactical approaches as rugby consultant when the Springboks won the World Cup in 2007 and again as head coach of Japan in 2015 when his side had a shock win over South Africa in the pool stages.
The Australian compensated for his side’s weaknesses in the set-piece with superior analysis, allowing his players to maximise their pace and conditioning in the final quarter.
When the Rugby Football Union turned to him two years ago to rebuild the England squad from the detritus of their 2015 World Cup campaign, Jones was upbeat. “I thought they had potentially a great team coming,” he said
But he has had to alter his approach along the way.
“The biggest thing that has changed in coaching is that you have got to be much more consultative with the players now than you used to be,” Jones said.
“Twenty years ago you would go in at half-time, slam the table and say, ‘what’s going on? You’re not giving us enough!’ Now it is more a case of asking the players what they have to do, and good players know what they have to do.”
So how did all this come about? “Different generations, mate,” he adds. “The life I had is easier than the life my father had. The life my daughter has had is easier than the life I’ve had. It’s neither good nor bad, it is just the way life changes.”
England, who have won 22 of their 23 Test matches under Jones, have set the target of hunting down world champions New Zealand. The meeting between the two sides for the first time in four years at Twickenham next November has been hailed as one of the most defining games in the build-up to the Japan World Cup.
Experience tells Jones different, however, once again recalling the Wallabies’ change of fortunes against the All Blacks in 2003. “When we played New Zealand in July 2003 and got beaten by 50 points, it was embarrassing. Then we beat them in the semi-final [of the World Cup], when it counted. Only one game is going to count between England and New Zealand and that is at the World Cup.”