Guscott tells Eddie where he went wrong
WRONG to ignore Bath scrum-half Ben Spencer
JERRY Guscott, English rugby icon and now TV pundit, today launches a stern critique of Eddie Jones’ performance during the Six Nations.
England’s failure under Jones, finishing fifth above only Italy in the table, has prompted the RFU to instigate a detailed investigation by a panel to determine the problems.
Guscott, who earned 65 caps for England and was dubbed the “Prince of Centres” by Sir Clive Woodward, says the panel should consider five key areas where Jones went wrong.
In a hard-hitting column for The Rugby Paper, Guscott writes of the scrum-half debate: “Ben Spencer’s form was consistently good for long enough for him to be picked.”
Of Exeter’s snubbed flyhalf Joe Simmonds, he says: “Joe should be given the chance to challenge Owen Farrell and George Ford for the England shirt.
WRONG not to blood fly-half Joe Simmonds
WRONG to waste centre Ollie Lawrence
WRONG to pick rusty Saracens contingent
WRONG not to drop off-form players
“I like the Exeter 10’s nononsense approach. His game is based on very sound skills which enables him to play at an 8/10 consistently at club level.”
Of centre Ollie Lawrence, Guscott says: “One of my biggest disappointments of the Six Nations is the way that Lawrence was not given more game time at centre. He could be a world-class centre; England have wasted time.” But Jones’ biggest mistake, Guscott says, was picking the Saracens players in the first place: “The Saracens players definitely weren’t up to speed. He should have benched them to begin with.
“Billy Vunipola, for one, started poorly against Scotland, played better against France, and then fell off again against Ireland.”
RUGBY coaches do not change dramatically in terms of personality – even if they have lifechanging moments. So, it is unlikely England’s fifth-place finish in the Six Nations, and the criticism that has followed, will alter Eddie Jones.
If Jones goes on with England to the 2023 World Cup it will be the longest he has been in a coaching job, but at the moment he has the advantage of being the best performing England head coach, winning 49 of his 64 internationals in charge.
However, it is a good thing that an RFU-appointed panel will do a debrief of this season to find answers for England’s poor performance – and it is important that some of the panel must come from outside the RFU.
The reality is that Jones has been in a slump before, in 2018, and came through it to take England to the 2019 World Cup final. It must also be a factor that international rugby is harder for players without crowds and while some teams in the Six Nations thrived, some, like England, have not.
Overall, I am on the side of Eddie remaining as head coach, at least until the 2021 Autumn Internationals. When it comes to whether he should stay or go, I cannot get past my belief that Jones deserves another run, because he’s won what he’s won – including a Six Nations Grand Slam, two more Championship titles, and reached a World Cup final.
That said, I have not always understood his selection policy, especially in the case of scrum-half Ben Spencer, whose form was consistently good for long enough for him to be picked. Some of his other selection decisions on Premiership players are not quite as controversial.
For instance, there have been consistent calls for the Harlequins pair of No.8 Alex Dombrandt and fly-half Marcus Smith to be picked by England. I’m not convinced they are there yet. Before you put those two among the players who are already in the squad, you have to ask the right questions. For example, how good is Smith in defence, and allround is he as good as George Ford? And can Dombrandt have a meaningful impact for Harlequins for a full season, and not just 80 minutes here and there?
There is also a strong lobby for Sam Simmonds to get a run at No.8 after being consistently brilliant for Exeter – but can a back row of Sam Underhill, Tom Curry and Sam Simmonds
go well at international level? I don’t think so. There are not many international teams who pick a back row trio that lacks height and weight, and my preference is for a good, big, powerful hard-running No.8, and failing that a blindside like South Africa’s Pieter-Steph du Toit, who can do a similar job.
However, I do believe Sam’s brother Joe should be given the chance to challenge Owen Farrell and Ford for the England fly-half shirt, and I would put him ahead of Smith. I like the Exeter 10’s no-nonsense approach. His game is based on very sound skills – including fine goalkicking – which enables him to play at an 8/10 consistently at club level.
If you stuck Joe Simmonds into the England back-line tomorrow, I believe he has the skill-set and fitness to play at that standard. How cool he would be in front of 80,000 people is unknown, but he has shown with Exeter that he has the composure for big match rugby. I’m not sure the Chiefs’ fly-half would be better than Farrell at his best, but while Ford can be very good in attack, he is not great in defence, and sometimes his overall stewardship is questionable.
Since Jones took over in 2016 I don’t know an England player who has been as influential on or off the pitch as Farrell, but it does not seem as if the other backs take enough responsibility for the way they play. If I was in the team Farrell would be deaf from me shouting for the ball!
Teams like England often take too long to attack space when it is in front of them, thinking instead that they’ve got to go through the playbook first – whereas the French players are taking ownership of the game, as they showed with that brilliant late try against Wales.
One of my biggest disappointments of the Six Nations is the way that Ollie Lawrence was not given more game time at centre, because he needs time to adjust. He often looked a bit frenetic, and not quite in control, and all this should have been ironed out in training.
He is better built and more dynamic than Farrell when it comes to taking a hard inside running line, and yet it was the England captain who tried to do it against Ireland. Lawrence could be a world-class centre; England have wasted time by not bringing the best out of him.
Where the captaincy is concerned, the options are clear. Jones can either stick with Farrell, give Itoje a chance – although he doesn’t seem overly concerned about doing the job – or have a look at Curry. The flanker looks like a decent option because of his consistency of performance, with his worst game usually a 7/10. When it comes to captains, players are inspired more by what they see, than what they hear.
England’s main problem seems to be that they are unable to get to a high level game on a consistent basis. In the Six Nations they played poorly against Scotland, did as well as anybody against Italy, but then dipped again against Wales, and after raising their game against
France, were squashed by Ireland.
A lot of it was about the Saracens boys, because Jones had half a dozen key players who did not perform at their usual level. Billy Vunipola, for one, started poorly against Scotland, played better against France, and then fell off again against Ireland.
The Saracens players definitely weren’t up to speed, and picking them to start was Jones’ biggest mistake. He should have benched them to begin with to get them Test matchready. He is an experienced coach, and should have got that right.
The pack was not a dominant force across this Six Nations, and the attitude among the forwards has to be, “what am I doing here if I’m not least a 7/10 every game?”.
I think there’s enough competition in the front five, and Luke CowanDickie has pushed his way in brilliantly – although he needs to tighten up his tackle technique unless he wants to be red-carded – but is the scrum any better under Matt Proudfoot?
Has the defence under John Mitchell been as good as it was in 2019? And why is there no sign of what Simon Amor has done in attack?
Jones is the most accountable of the coaches, but any review also has to ask questions about how his assistants are functioning.
Some of the England players have admitted to a dip in form, and while it is honest, it is a hard thing to say. When I was dropped I might have admitted to myself there was a valid reason, but I would never volunteer the information to anyone else.
However, the solution to below-par performances is simple – if players are not performing you drop them. England were half-cocked in the Six Nations because Jones did not stick to this principle when he picked the team, and he also prepared them poorly.
Despite that, Jones should continue because on the results front he has more than earned the right. However, if England do not buck-up by the end of the autumn in terms of high-level performance and consistency, then I do not see the point in him carrying on.
He has to start remoulding the team this summer against the USA and Canada by picking players to challenge the England contingent in the Lions squad on their return.
Eddie Jones has got to rediscover the verve and zest he had when he first came in as England coach in 2016, and he should be given until Christmas to do it.
“Any review also has to ask how Eddie’s assistant coaches are functioning”