Former England head coach Eddie Jones is amongst the most polarising figures within rugby today. Now at the helm of Japan for his third run with the Brave Blossoms, Jones recently had a reunion with his former team, as Steve Borthwick’s England achieved a 52-17 win in Tokyo. This match kick started England’s Summer Series fixtures, with the side now heading down to New Zealand for two Test matches against the All Blacks.
Jones was in charge of England for seven years, in a tenure as head coach which ran from 2015 to 2022. Taking over from Stuart Lancaster after England’s disastrous 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign, that saw them become the first host nation to be eliminated in the pool stages, Jones turned the side around and had the Six Nations Grand Slam under his belt, only a year later in 2016.
Jones would go on to win an additional two Six Nations Championships with England (2017 and 2020), and take his side to the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final in Japan. Add in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup to his list of accolades, and Jones’ rein was overall a success. The Australian achieved a win rate of 73% ahead of his sacking in December 2022, which was the best ever record for an England head coach.
Former England scrum-half Ben Youngs believes that Jones is amongst the best coaches he has ever played under. The Leicester Tigers man played a total of 65 Tests with Jones in charge, and backs the Australian as one of the greats. Youngs believes that Jones’ resume of accomplishments overshadows any tarnishes upon his career, including last year’s unceremonious run with the Wallabies, which included a Rugby World Cup pool stage exit.
“I can only say what my experience of it was. Genuinely, and I say (this) whenever I’m asked (about Eddie Jones), he’s honestly one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. Tactically, he’s very, very good, like very clever in how he sees the game and how he wants to do things. You know, for whatever reason, it didn’t work with Australia. That doesn’t make him a bad coach, he’s still a very good coach, he’s still very intelligent in how he sees the game.
“I think rugby needs these sort of characters like Eddie, he divides opinion I get that. But look, if I got the opportunity to work under him again, I would jump for the opportunity. I’m never going to get the opportunity again, unless he does do the Baa-Baas. But the point being is, I know he divides opinion, but from my point of view is he was very, very good.
“We had a real successful time in England. We had some tough periods, of course we did. But no, he’s honestly one of the best coaches I’ve had. So, I’m sure he’ll embrace the challenge of Japan, I’m sure.”
“He’ll bottle everything that how it unfolded with England and how it unfolded with Australia, of course he will. You just know what he’s like as a character, the World Cup is in Australia (in 2027), he’ll be taking Japan back. So, they could end up being in the same pool, just the way the stars align with him, it wouldn’t surprise me if suddenly Australia and Japan are in the same pool. He would love it, wouldn’t he. So good on him, he brings a lot of entertainment.
Whilst Youngs is amongst those who prospered under Eddie Jones, there have been some well documented cases of players who excelled at their clubs, but could not kick into gear for the Australian’s liking. For every excelling Owen Farrell there is an under-capped Danny Cipriani, and as the likes of Jonny May battled to become Jones’ first choice wing, an assortment of flyers were cast to the wayside, with Christian Wade and Denny Solomona amongst those that were unable to make a dent.
Youngs used May as an example, and believed that his former Leicester Tigers teammate is a real success story from the Jones regime. Whilst Youngs recognised that some of Jones’ coaching approaches were unorthodox (the famous bag of sweets anecdote comes to mind), the scrum half backed his former coach’s manor of telling his players exactly what he expected of them.
“He tries different ways of doing that. And it doesn’t always work. And sometimes he doesn’t get the return he wishes, and then other times, he does. Jonny May is an example. When he first came in, he really pushed him hard, challenged him, made him think things differently. Then, you know, within 12 months, Jonny is the starting winger of England and played probably some of his best rugby under Eddie.
“He challenged players. But the reason he challenged players and sometimes he challenged them in ways that were totally different to what other coaches do. But all he was trying to do, is trying to spark something, to get the best out of you.
“He tries different ways of doing that. And it doesn’t always work. And sometimes he doesn’t get the return he wishes, and then other times, he does. Jonny May is an example. When he first came in, he really pushed him hard, challenged him, made him think things differently. Then, you know, within 12 months, Jonny is the starting winger of England and played probably some of his best rugby under Eddie.
“He was phenomenal, and his strike record and everything like that. So, sometimes it doesn’t work and the ones that don’t work are the ones you probably hear about. But there’s plenty that have worked.”
“For me, he was always very, very honest and told me straight. And that’s kind of all you want as a player. The coaches that kind take the long way around to trying to get to the point, when you’re actually just waiting for ‘what is it you want’. It was always very, this is wants, needs, demands (with Jones). This is what I expect. So as a player you can then go and do something about it.”
Jones has long enjoyed the pre-match antics that proceed an important Test with a highlight reel of sharp quips, compiled from sparring with the media and taking jabs at his opponents. England head coach Steve Borthwick would have known these traits all too well ahead of last Saturday’s fixture with the Brave Blossoms, and was prepared for any verbal hand grenades, from his experience as England’s forwards coach whilst Jones was in charge.
Borthwick named his squad to play Japan on the Tuesday ahead of the game, when traditionally England would name their squad on the Thursday. Youngs was taken back by the early squad announcement, and believes that it was an expertly deployed tactic from Borthwick to silence his touchline counterpart.
So, I’m rooming with Danny (Care – for the Barbarians), and we we’re just sitting there, and he was like ‘oh, team has been announced!’ So I was like, ‘right, what’s he gone with?’ Yeah, we were like chatting away. Because normally, it’s a Thursday, so, I don’t know why that’s happened but maybe he (Steve Borthwick) just thought, ‘if I name it now, I don’t have to deal with Eddie for like the rest of the week’, in terms of like a press tennis battle on the baseline.
“I think from a player’s point of view, I know if I was a player, and it got announced early, that’s nice. Because you’ve got clarity, you know where you are, you know that you’re playing and it allows you to focus in on what you’re doing early on.
“So maybe that’s something that potentially has been fed back (to Borthwick) that they’d like to know the team earlier. And Steve’s probably taken onboard and done that. Potentially, but let’s see what they do in New Zealand, they might do it differently.
“I think there’s probably from a player’s point of view, or having played there, and knowing what it’s like, the earlier you find out, the better it is. Sometimes it’s easier just getting out there, you know, the team pretty much know what’s going on anyway, don’t they.”