Why England’s Six Nations squad will have a Pep in their step
IF Pep Guardiola does eventually move to the Premier League, there will be more than one English team benefitting from the Spaniard’s philosophy.
The Bayern Munich manager has already shared trade secrets with Eddie Jones, after inviting the new England coach to the club’s Sabener Strasse training ground last season.
As Jones discovered, Guardiola’s favourite drill, based on intense passing combinations in confined spaces, requires split-second decision-making and crystalclear vision. It also demands a relentless work-rate and discipline, with Jones bracing himself for complaints as he prepares to take his own players out of their comfort zone.
‘I was embarrassed by my coaching after watching Pep take the session,’ said Jones. ‘He was so bloody brilliant. He has got some of the best players in the world – Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller – and he just worked them so hard. It was –3C and they came off the field dripping with sweat.’
While Jones is not expecting the Vunipola brothers to master tiki-taka, he will demand an instinctive understanding of pressing, formations and seeing space – all transferable from football – from every player.
‘I had about an hour and a half with Pep,’ added Jones. ‘He studied rugby and European handball to look at how you move the ball into space. We talked about how you move the football into space because, in rugby, once you get away from the setpiece it’s like football. Players have got to know where to move in relation to where the ball is and what the defence does.
‘There’s a lot of sequence of rugby played here. By that I mean that things are planned all the time – you don’t win Test rugby like that. Some of the dumbest players are the smartest players. They just need to be bright in rugby.
‘Rugby’s funny because we ask players to think but, if they do think, then the time’s gone. If we get the players playing instinctively, then we’ll release their potential. The best decision-making 10 in England is who? Charlie Hodgson. But he’s 35 – I don’t think I can wheel him out!’
This will be the first campaign that Owen Farrell has not worked under his father, Andy, who has taken up a defence role with Ireland.
They could go head-to-head in next year’s Six Nations but Jones isn’t concerned about Farrell Sr having an inside line.
‘He might know what toothpaste [Owen] uses but how is that going to help him during a game of rugby!’