Recently, there have been several noteworthy Eddie Jones rumors around the stadium. Joe Simpson recently told someone about the day Jones apologized for yelling at one of his assistant coaches by giving him a steak. When the coach returned home, he discovered that the bag contained sausages. Jones advised him, “You’re not ready for steak just yet.”
Here is one that differs slightly from the rest. Jones read a 2019 article on an England supporter who traveled to Japan to watch the squad play while he was battling cancer.
Jones requested his information, called him, and engaged in a lengthy conversation about his sickness before sending him a Christmas gift.
When Jones stated on Saturday that he “doesn’t care what people think,” I do not believe for a second that he was referring to the fans, whom he had thanked at length for their support when England drew with New Zealand the previous week.
However, he was referring to the press, as well as the players and coaches working as pundits.
The familiarity of Jones’s behavior when England lose has worn thin. He blames himself for everything, which is his way of shifting the blame to his players, and then he frequently picks fights. After seven years of all of this, he doesn’t have many friends left to support him when he needs them.
Jones’s autobiography reveals that he has been this way since childhood. He was the working-class son of a Japanese-Australian couple, and he grew up in a period and place where he perceived “hostility that bordered on hatred against Japan.”
Early on, he realized that sport would be his “means to leave his mark,” but he understood he would have to work more than everyone else because he was smaller and looked different.
He is still the same now. You can see it in his disdain for the notion that anybody else might know more, his unwavering work ethic, and his conviction that people need to be challenged to advance. Jones enjoys making others uncomfortable. He believes it will benefit them.
It is also shown in his preference for players with a similar upbringing to his own. “I appreciate the men who have had to keep fighting and proving themselves,” he remarked. In addition to his skepticism over the private school system.
It permeates his teams, which he forms in his image. The signature victories of his career came against the odds: Japan’s victory over South Africa in 2015, England’s grand slam in 2016, and England’s semi-final victory over New Zealand three years later. He has learned through long and arduous experiences how to play the underdog.
Consequently, he is a strange fit for England. If you asked rugby supporters around the world to describe their perception of English rugby, “underdog” would be near the bottom of the list, but its antonyms may be near the top with good cause, as England has more players than other countries, more fans, and more money.
Jones even went through a period where he insisted his team was the underdog in every other game they played, which resulted in his being criticized constantly for setting low expectations. Clive Woodward argued that England at home should never be regarded as an underdog.
I doubt Jones has ever fully comprehended how to handle this component of his team’s personality.
He is undoubtedly less adept at guiding a club with winning expectations. Last year at this time, he was discussing the advantage South Africa had over England in the 2019 World Cup final, “that extra little bit” of motivation that Rassie Erasmus found when he spoke so eloquently about the significance of the game to their country. I asked Jones if he knew what could save England.
“I’d love to answer yes, but I’m not certain that I do, and that’s what we’re attempting to determine. “I don’t know if it has to do with their history or their culture, or if it’s something else, but we’re still looking for the answer.”
The irony is that England has been playing so poorly and losing so many games recently that they are entering the World Cup year as such. Underdogs. Which may suit Jones if the Rugby Football Union permits him to do so.
What would they achieve by removing his support now, three years into a four-year plan? It would leave them with the improbable hope that a new coach could construct a World Cup-winning team in the next nine months (and before you say it, Erasmus had double that when he took over South Africa).
Perhaps more importantly for them, they would have a ready-made explanation if he does not comply.
Jones has made several errors, including his selections, how he has treated some of his players and coaches, his persistence with a style of attack that is not working, and his neglect of everything other than the World Cup (which reminds us of what Steve Hansen once said about him wanting something so badly that it prevents him from achieving it).
Jones has transformed the future into a matter of faith, and his team’s recent performance has provided few grounds for optimism.
But nine months before the World Cup, the RFU’s best bet is to allow him to play his way out of the corner. After all, he has been doing this his entire life.
