Jones plans to consult Southgate about Wags
Eddie Jones, England’s head coach, will consult football counterpart Gareth Southgate about his side’s experience in Russia in the summer before deciding whether to allow his players’ wives and girlfriends to attend the World Cup in Japan next year.
The Football Association did not put a ban on partners attending the World Cup and the players’ families stayed at hotels near to the team during the tournament, which lasted just over four weeks during June and July.
Rugby’s World Cup will last almost double that time, with teams expected to fly to Japan in early September ahead of the first pool matches on the weekend of Sept 20, with the final on Nov 2.
Martin Johnson, England manager for the last World Cup on foreign soil, New Zealand 2011, did allow the players’ families to travel with no formal restrictions, believing it would be a stabilising factor as it had been when he was captain at the 2003 tournament.
Jones, however, wants to gather more information, including from the FA, before making his decision after consultation with his players.
“We have been talking to the FA about what they did successfully at the World Cup,” said Jones. “When it gets closer to the time we will have a policy on that. I don’t want to say what the FA did because I might get it wrong.
“We will have an idea and give it to the players to look at. We want them to accept responsibility.
“When this camp finishes, five of the staff are going to Japan to look at our training centres and grounds. To win the World Cup we need to be the bestprepared team in the world.
“Having family out there varies for each player. I can remember coaching a side and the captain, who was pretty successful, came up and said: ‘I don’t care what you do, but don’t allow wives and kids in the hotel’.
“For him it was an impediment to his performance, whereas other players feel it is essential to see their family.
“It is about coming up with a set of rules that individually allow the players some freedom but at the same time maintain the team discipline.”
England players will eat sushi and have lessons on cultural awareness during the build-up to their Test match against Japan in November to prepare for the experience of playing in the World Cup. Jones is planning a number of activities in the week ahead of the match at Twickenham on Nov 17 to immerse his players in all aspects of Japanese culture.
“We will use the Japan week as a cultural experience for the players,” he said. “We will have some food, lessons and see who is keen and who is not and then awareness of what it will be like. It is going to be different. Maybe have Japanese food one night, a lesson on one day; cultural awareness stuff.
“We recently took the coaching staff over there [to Japan]. It was 28 and 29 [degrees], humidity 80-85 per cent. You have to be able to adapt and get on with it.”