Eddie Jones has declared he has “the petrol in the tank” to lead England at next year’s World Cup — and the RFU have decided he is the man they want to drive them forward.
If they were thinking about a change of head coach and rolling the dice before the World Cup, now was the moment to do it. Just ask South Africa.
It was around this time in 2018 that the Springboks parachuted in Rassie Erasmus ahead of the 2019 World Cup and he led them to glory, beating England in the final.
The RFU, however, have decided to stick with Jones, despite another disappointing Six Nations in which, for the second year running, they won just two of their five games.
The backing came in the form of a statement yesterday, less than 24 hours after England had lost to Grand Slam winners France in Paris. In it, the RFU said England had made “good progress” and “strong positive steps” during the Six Nations, adding they “fully support” Jones.
Crucially, he also has the support of his senior England players.
“He’s absolutely the right man for the job,” said hooker Jamie George. “He gives the players confidence we can go out and do it. We’ve all got every confidence we can turn this around.
“The pressure shouldn’t solely lie on Eddie. The players have to take some responsibility on the back of a disappointing campaign.”
Courtney Lawes, who captained England for much of the Championship in the absence of Owen Farrell, echoed George, saying: “We understand where we are going as a team — clearly, we haven’t got there yet, but there is still time.”
An RFU advisory panel — which consists of board and executive members, former players and coaches and Jones himself — will review the tournament in the coming weeks, as they have done since being set up in 2019.
Before that, though, Jones and his coaching staff were due to meet at the team’s training base at Pennyhill Park today for a two-day review. They were set to assess what went wrong during the Six Nations and put a plan in place to ensure this summer’s tour to Australia is more successful.
The review needs to be brutal and honest, because Saturday’s defeat to France underlined how far England are away from being Grand Slam winners. Jones put the gap at three per cent, but it felt much greater than that watching them in Paris. France were not at their best, with handling errors creeping into their game as they dealt with the nerves of securing a first Grand Slam in 12 years, but they still won by 12 points. Right now, they feel like everything England are not: a slick, sharp team with a clear identity.
England battled and fought hard at the Stade de France, as they have done throughout the Championship, but that will only get you so far. Jones can point to injuries being an issue too, mainly the likes of Manu Tuilagi and Farrell, but the player pool he has to pick from is vast and the envy of other unions.
The biggest concern will be England’s attack. That was supposed to progress this year under the tagline of ‘New England’, but it has stagnated over the past two months.
Fly-half Marcus Smith has sparkled at moments, but he has not been helped by his scrum-half changing. The midfield, even with Joe Marchant impressing on Saturday, is a problem area and one cannot ignore the gaping Tuilagi-shaped hole there.
Freddie Steward has improved the back-three, but that has chopped and changed too. Steward, who had been one of England’s best players at full-back, moved to the wing on Saturday and George Furbank came in.
There are less concerns in the forwards, where Ellis Genge and Maro Itoje shone. The set-piece, particularly the scrum, looked solid, too.
England can and must get better before the World Cup, but the big fear is that France will, too.
Leaving the Stade de France on Saturday night, it was impossible to not think ahead to next year’s World Cup and how France will be a formidable force hosting the tournament.
Not so long ago, French rugby was disjointed and the hysteria displayed in Paris on Saturday was unimaginable. But they have become united more recently and suddenly look like a team ready to compete to become world champions.
England and Jones, on the other hand, still look like they have plenty of work to do.
