‘Brutal’ honesty from Jones to be applauded, not frowned on
Rugby needs more controversy and the England coach deserves credit for spicing up debate before France game
The more comments such as those of Eddie Jones – France can expect “brutal physicality” on Sunday – the better. Rugby needs more points of difference; more spice. Ellis Genge and Joe Marler, two of the England props in the squad, are both characters and exactly what rugby needs.
In recent years, the sport has attempted to become as sterile as possible, with marketers thinking that what the public wants is safe views in rugby. That is not the case. The greatest sportsmen, the ones that you would want to be sitting next to at the dinner table, are characters. Jones is one of them.
You want someone who is prepared to speak their mind without worrying about the ramifications, and to say what they want, as opposed to a coach who just rattles out comments at a press conference which have been scripted by their head of communications and marketing team, out of fear of offence. You want offence, you want argument. That is exactly why you should get rid of the video assistant referee in football and the television match official in rugby. You want them to miss things and for everything not to be right all the time, to create debate.
Do the comments that Jones made give England’s opponents more incentive to play well? Maybe. Although, back on the 2001 Lions tour, it was claimed that I gave the Australia lock Justin Harrison more incentive to jump higher in the line-out with the comments I made in the press. Did I ever. No one is going to think, I am going to jump one inch higher in the line-out because Austin Healey called me a plank.
The sport needs more of those interactions, not fewer. I did not care what people thought about what I said. I said it because I wanted to. Jones is exactly the
same. He says these things because he wants to say them. I am not even sure they are part of some master plan before each Test to affect the minds of the opposition – he just says them because he wants to.
I remember Clive Woodward before a game, telling me off for comments I had made and telling me to calm it down. But then he added that he would love to say stuff like that in public.
Also, Jones’s comments this week are fair. Test rugby is brutally physical, especially compared to the Under-20 Championship where France’s young players have been so successful over the past couple of years.
I know that Jones has singled out Jonathan Sexton and Rhys Patchell in the past, and doing that can be dangerous. It can be fine as long as it is not too disrespectful. You might point out a flaw in a player, maybe one aspect of their ability, and make them think about it in the build-up to the game.
Something niche, the grass being longer at Twickenham so it might affect their goal-kicking, for example. Those sorts of mind games have gone on for ages. The last thing you want is a coach saying “we are going to play as hard as we can”. Of course you are.
As for the game, you never know how France will play, especially a young team with lots of new caps. The last thing you should ever do is gamble on France against England, especially in Paris. The fact that the Stade de France is sold out is great for the country. They have needed a change. Too many older players were in that France team for too long, and they have unbelievable talent coming through. With an eye on 2023, keeping this group together over the next few years and getting them up to 30-40 caps, with an average age of about 25, could mean France will be one of the teams to beat at that World Cup.
Romain Ntamack and Damian Penaud, guys with a bit of experience, will be key, as will Antoine Dupont. He is an unbelievable talent at scrum-half, but he can be wound up. He has lost his head in games in the past. Maybe that is what Jones is trying to do, to get into the minds of those players.
What a player Dupont is, though. England will have their work cut out to stop him.