Jones: Knives are out but I am loving it
Coach says he knew dip in form would happen Tough period will breed ‘resilience and character’
Eddie Jones has come out swinging after South Africa inflicted England’s fifth successive Test defeat last Saturday, claiming he was “absolutely loving” the criticism despite having “knives in [his] back”.
Jones held one-to-one interviews with his entire squad yesterday at their Indian Ocean base in Umhlanga, 48 hours after the 23-12 defeat in Bloemfontein which condemned his side to defeat in the three-match series, which ends in Cape Town on Saturday.
Afterwards, he insisted that these “bloody tough periods” were what define champion teams and said he felt “more positive” about England’s prospects for the World Cup in 2019 than he had previously.
Even though three players had flown home over the weekend – Billy Vunipola (fractured arm), Mako Vunipola (paternity leave) and Ellis Genge (knee) – Jones said he had “never seen such an upbeat group”, and was further buoyed by receiving a text that morning from Dylan Hartley, informing him that he was back in full training after missing the tour due to ongoing issues with concussion.
It was a bravura performance from Jones, a typically combative and candid appraisal of the firestorm that has risen up around him. It could yet raze his regime to the ground, if England’s losing streak is extended in Cape Town, and then in November when South Africa, New Zealand and Australia come visiting. Jones was asked if he needed any bolstering after such a critical savaging, with some calling for him to be sacked.
“No, s---, I’ve been doing it for long enough, I don’t need that,” said Jones. “If someone decides that’s not good enough, then they decide. I don’t ask for the full support of Steve Brown [the RFU chief executive]. I chat to him regularly.
“I’ve been through this many times. There are the great periods, the ones you look forward to, where everyone thinks you’re done and you have to find a way to win. When you are doing well, everyone pats you on the back and when you are not doing well, you’re pulling knives out of your back. That’s the reality of it. I’m enjoying it, loving it, absolutely loving it.”
As for his team, they gave few signs that they were relishing the predicament they were in, although Jones’s testimony indicated that they were as hell-bent as he was on finding a remedy to their woes, “to put in the best performance of the tour in Cape Town”. The coach disclosed that not a single one of them had cited altitude as one of the possible reasons for their losses.
Jones has embraced the situation and has inferred that his team have, too. “When everything is running well, it’s easy,” said Jones. “You’ve got your team humming, you’re winning games you shouldn’t. You get 50-50 decisions, everyone’s available, you don’t have any injuries. They are the easy parts.
“The hard parts are when you’ve got injuries, you’re not getting 5050 decisions, there’s pressure around, there’s noise around and that’s where you find your worth and you find what players can really stand up to pressure. That’s the most fascinating period.
“You have to be able to get through it and it’s painful and everyone knows better than you do at that time, but once you get through it, you’ve got the hallmarks of a champion team and that’s where we’re going.”
Jones said he knew this sort of dip would happen, even if he had not quite realised that it would become a slump with ominous overtones.
“Yes, 100 per cent, I knew it was coming,” said Jones. “You can’t expect to just keep winning endlessly. And a lot of the wins we had, luck went on our side. Then you have these other periods which are bloody tough when you don’t get any luck. And you’ve got to battle through them. It builds resilience, it builds the character of your team, it builds memories.
“The players remember these things for a long period of time. It draws people closer together. And what you get out of this is a stronger team. And that’s what will happen.”
Jones revealed that he knows who he wants to bring on board as his new defence coach to replace the Harlequins-bound Paul Gustard, but has yet to confirm whether the short-term arrangement with the Australian attack coach, Scott Wisemantel, will continue beyond the tour.