Probyn: Eddie’s right not to trust club form
As Eddie Jones faces questions and thus an uncertain future, I am wondering who he will blame this time for his failures. Even though there is currently an RFU review into what was a disastrous Six Nations campaign, I am fairly sure Jones will get the all clear to continue to the next World Cup, if he wants it.
This is not the first review into whether a coach should or shouldn’t continue. I was involved in two such reviews when I was a National member of the RFU Committee.
The first was for Clive Woodward after the 1999 World Cup, where England were knocked out in the quarter-finals by second string South African fly-half Jannie de Beer and his five drop-goals.
Obviously, Clive maintained his position and set a record as the first and only coach to lead England to two World Cups and England’s only win so far.
At the time there was much debate about value for money as Woodward had far exceeded the usual playing budgets at the time, but in retrospect after the 2003 tournament, the RFU thought it was money well spent.
However, the aftermath of the RWC success saw the England team begin to fail and Woodward looked in the mirror and decided to step away leaving his assistant Andy Robinson in charge.
Unfortunately, despite retaining a number of the World Cup-winning team, Andy was unable to halt the slide in defeats and his position came under review.
After much debate, particularly the fact that we were close to the 2007 World Cup, Andy was retained but shortly after another round of disastrous results he was fired in December 2006. This left the RFU in a vulnerable position with no coach just months before the 2007 World Cup, so they appointed Brian Ashton who was working for the Union as Robinson’s assistant.
The team having reached the final of the 2007 Cup and despite Ashton’s rather strange management style (which attracted a lot of player criticism in a later review I wasn’t party to), he was given a new contract with an indefinite length in December 2007 only then to be replaced in April 2008.
Jones also has a different management style and, like Ashton, was offered a contract extension for reaching the final but I doubt he will face the same level of player-led revolt as Ashton did.
The one common result of all the reviews has been to always give the coach the benefit of the doubt and
“The ring fence has made a difference with what seems a rash of ridiculous results”
let him try again. Jones should look on this as a first warning and ensure his team win without excuses or blame.
Jones’ main fault would seem to be an unwillingness to try new players purely based on Premiership form. This could actually be sound thinking, as many players who are looking good at the moment are doing so in a very strange season.
The ring fence has made a difference with what seems a rash of ridiculous results. Looking at last week’s Premiership games, a total of 371 points were scored in just six games, averaging around 62 points a game.
Whatever anyone says, a truly competitive league or match should see a relatively low-scoring result without either side totally dominating the other. But this is not the case with Newcastle/Wasps the only game last weekend having a close two-point margin and in all other games the margins were in double digits.
For Jones this makes choosing the right players a difficult gamble. Do you drop what you know and take the chance on an untried player who is looking good in a mixed standard competition, or stay ‘safe’ with the current players?
Even though I believe it is too late to go back to a level of rugby between club and country, there ought to be some way of taking players out of their clubs’ comfort zone, so they can be truly assessed as potential international players.
There is absolutely no doubt there are some wasted gems plying their trade who have not been discovered or given a chance in the professional game.
With no other route to the top for talented players, it leaves the promotion of your club as the only way to get noticed and even then it would only be if your club were to be promoted to the Premiership, which is no longer viable.
Jones will probably continue as the only option the RFU have if they want a chance of bringing the Cup home in 2023. After all, Jones is the only England coach whose team have beaten New Zealand in a World Cup competition.