Eddie will scare you... and you’ll curse him

BEN DARWIN knows Eddie Jones better than most having played under him during the 2003 World Cup for Australia and then being his assistant with Japan’s national side. The former prop gives Mail on Sunday a glimpse into the mindest of England’s coach

EDDIE JONES is not my favourite person in the world. Four years as a player being harangued and dragged kicking and screaming into a professional career means his name does not fill me with enormous joy. But I would not have played for Australia if it were not for him.

When coached by Eddie, you spend 90 per cent of your time cursing him. I once saw a Japanese player at Suntory Sungoliath, the team Eddie coached, climbing under furniture to avoid being in eyesight of him.

After the announcement he was leaving Japan and moving to coach the Stormers in South Africa, I asked a member of the Japanese Rugby Union: ‘How is everyone at the JRU now that Eddie is leaving?’ The answer: ‘We are very relieved.’

This does not mean he is the wrong choice for England. His ability to put the goal of the team above all else is legendary. His life seems to revolve around coaching. Such a work ethic will rub off on the staff or nearly kill them.

When I arrived in Japan at Suntory as assistant coach he seemed to have the entire staff convinced that 6am-10pm days were normal.

Wherever Eddie goes there is productive tension. He has a history of making life difficult for players and staff. There are still a lot of people in rugby where his name makes them nervous.

What seems to scare people most is not that he screams or yells more than anyone else, but that he almost seems to cut to your deepest fears. He will never allow anyone to coast. In training, every lift, tackle or pass; if it’s not up to standard it will be noticed and acted on.

It’s not whether Eddie is the right guy for the RFU; it will be whether the RFU can absorb the amount of change needed to win.

In the end, it is never Eddie that breaks; it will be the RFU or his relationship with the RFU that falters. Let’s face it, it’s not Eddie that needs to change for England to be successful.