Petulance of Jones a positive for Scots
SCOTLAND should be heading to Twickenham next weekend to face an England side at the height of its powers and with confidence soaring after a run of 17 consecutive international victories. But they are not.
This is a team still finding its way, knowing it was fortunate to beat France by three points in the opening RBS Six Nations match and to come from behind to win in the final minutes against Wales. They were also mightily relieved at having finished off the Italians in the final ten minutes while struggling to fathom what happened in a loose first hour to create an unexpectedly tight game.
And how do we know this? Witness the spoiled brat-like behaviour of their head coach Eddie Jones after that Italy match a week ago. For those that know Jones, the reaction to Italy’s ‘anti-rucking’ tactic, where he refused to answer questions on the game in the post-match conference ‘because it wasn’t a game of rugby’ and urged supporters to claim their ticket money back from the RFU for the same reason, is typical.
Jones won’t remember England’s Dean Richards-inspired ‘up-the-jumper’ rugby where players and supporters alike struggled to see the ball. The worst example was a 9-6 win for England at Murrayfield in 1988 where, at the end of a championship where Scotland had otherwise averaged 20 points per game, attack was nullified and scoring chances evaporated due to powerful English tactics to keep ball in the forwards, and keep recycling, with the monotony of collapsed scrums and mauls.
On the Glasgow Coma Scale it was nearing zero and Scotland coach Derrick Grant stated afterwards: ‘If England is the birthplace of rugby, then they effectively killed the game stone dead today.’
Dull, terrible spectacle, but well within the laws and it worked.
Jones is a clever coach, no doubt, as witnessed from his great Brumbies team with Stephen Larkham, George Gregan, Joe Roff and George Smith that won Super Rugby in 2001, and the Japan side that defeated South Africa, Samoa and the USA in the 2015 World Cup — and duly earned him the highest-paid coach’s job in world rugby when the RFU’s patience with Stuart Lancaster ran out.
He is widely respected as an innovative coach, in the office by 6am every day, poring over rugby, football and other sporting videos and playbooks… until someone embarrassed him.
Ireland did not moan when stunned by the Wallabies employing the ‘anti-rucking’ tactic. Super Rugby did not bleat to the lawmakers when the Chiefs’ brains trust of Dave Rennie and Wayne Smith defused rucks. Even Edinburgh conceded it was nifty thinking when Glasgow employed it against them a few years back. It is similar to backing off a line-out maul to avoid offside: clever and welcome innovation, but not sustainable. Coaches with humility applaud, knowing they will be ready next time.
Yet, Jones was livid when it outsmarted his side. Why? Because he took too long to suss the problem and his players revealed an inability to think for themselves, outside the systems and structures so important to modern teams.
Nobody has kept it going as long as Italy did, because every other opponent reacted quicker.
So Jones’ response to a close encounter, eventually won easily? Demand that World Rugby ban the practise.
As any parent will tell them, it is important now that the governing body do not react to the brat and give in to his demands. It may set a dangerous precedent.
Sport’s beauty lies in its ability to innovate, in players and coaches digging into the mind to out-think opponents on the field of play; employing a new or altered tactic to circumvent the other’s plan.
Jones, like most coaches, is under pressure in year two, the honeymoon over, the team’s ebullience at a change of direction dulled slightly and opponents forming new ways to stifle their threats. The Aussie is unique in the Six Nations, however, in that his team are strong enough to still be winning every game while not at their best, so while his gut reaction to near-things will be ‘change, innovate’, his mind may be wary.
England remain favourites to beat Scotland at Twickenham and Jones is only more emboldened to reveal his tactical brain in plays that stump Vern Cotter’s Scots. He rocked them with Japan and has a wealth of better players at his disposal now.
They have genuine quality and have earned their shot at drawing level with the All Blacks’ 18-Test run of successive wins — with the potential to go to Ireland and set a new record — and their pride has been hurt.
Conversely, Scotland know that their hopes of an historic first victory at Twickenham in 34 years will rest on their ability to expose and exploit that pain and insecurity from the kick-off.