Indomitable Jones can ride out the latest storm
One year ago, Eddie Jones had yet to taste defeat as England head coach with a second Six Nations title in the bag ahead of a trip across the Irish Sea. His reputation ranked somewhere between Midas and Moses, leading England out of the wilderness into the promised land.
In the past three weeks, the champions have been dethroned, the golden touch forgotten and the path of the one-time saviour questioned like never before.
His side have suffered back-toback defeats by Scotland and France, while Jones has been assailed by loutish fans on a train back from Edinburgh and forced to apologise for making derogatory comments about Ireland and Wales. Yet bumps in the road are nothing new for Jones. He may have enjoyed long golden spells with Australia, Japan and England, but there have also been dips: he was sacked by the Wallabies in 2005, and pushed towards the exit at the Queensland Reds and Saracens.
Those close to him say it’d be foolish to write him off. As Bob Dwyer, his long-term mentor, says: ‘‘The thing about Eddie is that he was forged in adversity.’’
That indomitable spirit goes back to his childhood when he was subjected to racist abuse growing up in New South Wales. At 80kg, he had no real right to play toplevel rugby as a front-rower, but ended up as hooker in one of the all-time great Randwick sides where Dwyer coached.
‘‘One of his first major elite-level matches was for New South Wales Waratahs against Queensland Reds,’’ Dwyer said. ‘‘Eddie was up against Tom Lawton who was about 120kg. New South Wales were victorious. The scrum did not suffer, Eddie did not suffer. He has always had a lot of ticker.’’
As a coach, Jones’ professional career was nearly over before it had barely begun. Taking over a Brumbies team in 1998 that had come second in Super 12, Jones’ first season was a disaster as they came 10th. There were loud calls for his sacking.
‘‘What I remember about it is that he looked in the mirror harder than anyone else. I think that real desire to learn from mistakes rubbed off on the players,’’ former Brumbies winger Joe Roff recalls.
The following season, the Brumbies finished fifth and then were runners-up to Crusaders in 2000 after a last-minute Andrew Mehrtens penalty, which prompted the players to decamp to the clubhouse bar.
‘‘We were all still up drowning our sorrows and we saw him walk into the office at 5am to start planning the next season,’’ Roff said. ‘‘That was hours after the final whistle. That’s just his personality.’’
The next season the Brumbies were crowned champions.
Jones succeeded Rod Macqueen as Australia coach in 2001, but doubts quickly surfaced when the Wallabies were thrashed 50-21 at home by New Zealand in 2003 just weeks before a home World Cup.
Far from suffering dented confidence, Jones became emboldened. ‘‘He was convinced that the next time we played them at the World Cup we would win,’’ said former halfback George Gregan. Dwyer and Gregan both laugh at suggestions of England being in a tailspin.
‘‘Gosh, you have lost three test matches since he has taken over,’’ Gregan said. ‘‘You’re not exactly in a crisis are you?’’
Telegraph, London