Eddie Jones: ‘Histrionics’ shows lack of ’emotional consistency’ as Six Nations highlights ‘new tiers’ in Test rugby
Eddie Jones makes his Planet Rugby debut as he analyses the opening weekend of the 2025 Six Nations.
In a Planet Rugby exclusive, Eddie Jones analyses the opening round of the 2025 Six Nations following the victories for Ireland, Scotland and France.
Planet Rugby is delighted to welcome former England head coach and current Japan boss Jones, one of the world’s greatest rugby minds, for the Six Nations as he starts a new column that examines the key contests of every match of the Championship.
Tier 1a and 1b
I have long believed that there’s a significant gap between the best and the rest in Tier 1 rugby. You might call it Tier 1a and 1b for want of a better description, with Scotland somewhere at the top of 1b, and both England and Italy just behind them.
This weekend amplified my view – we saw the teams in 1a, France and Ireland, pulling well clear of their opponents with calm and considered rugby. Scotland weren’t too far behind and for me, they consolidated their reputation for consistency.
Emotional consistency
The biggest difference between these top sides and the rest is how they react to both great moments and poor moments in a match. The best don’t over-celebrate successes nor do they wilt under moments of pressure. They maintain composure.
It’s the difference between a top test batter averaging 55 and a newbie searching for his first test ton – the top batter has the process reference points of getting to a hundred and plays consistently without emotion clouding his process, even when there’s a time in his innings where the bowlers are troubling him; the youngster is on an emotional high in his innings after getting 20 or 30 and hitting some beautiful boundaries. Then, he plays and misses a few times, or hits a powerful cover drive to a fielder. He’s reacting too greatly to the emotion of the boundaries, is then frustrated by the moments when he’s not on top or can’t pierce the field and he gets out. Simple scoreboard pressure.
Top sportsmen have a way of putting a mistake moment behind them and, equally, they realise that if they land a good punch, the fight isn’t over and there’s still work to do. That’s how teams like South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand perform in rugby – no histrionics, just consistently sticking to their game, their process, and most importantly, their winning reference process throughout the performance.
In the Ireland v England match, we saw exactly this situation unfold in front of us. Ireland had those reference points to maintain emotional consistency and belief to deliver their game. England disrupted well in that first half, but Ireland stuck to process, sharpened their focus on doing their thing well. England were carried out into the second half on an emotional high, and the moment they were challenged, they went to a deep emotional low, lacking the belief in their own process of doing the same things they did in the first half and the result was error-laden defence and the conceding of seven penalties and two free kicks in the space of 30 minutes.
Established game
The challenge to those outside the top four is how do you create that established game? Those reference points that prove you’re in the elite?
Italy and Scotland both are well on their way to doing that. The Azzurri, like Scotland, have a couple of teams to pick from and have well-established combinations that perform well within the Benetton set-up.
They also have some great combinations that know each others’ game – Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello are outstanding as an example. As a result, their backline play has structure and process, as well as a bit of flair.
For the Scots, they average 45 caps or so a man and they know exactly what their game is; tremendous spike at the breakdown, a serviceable set-piece, and some gas finishers in the backline like Huw Jones, who has every great quality a Test 13 should have, and a very threatening back three. What they do know is that Finn Russell will create enough chances for them to win any Test they play. It’s simple, effective but above all, emotionally stable.
France are slightly different – they are always going to have a little more outward emotion, that’s in their DNA, but even then, there’s no cooler players around under pressure than their back-rows and half-backs. But again, they have a clearly defined strategy and the reference points to know it works.
They have the longest kick game in the world so they can play in the right place and they have three world-class kickers, one of whom kicks off both feet. But once in the red zone, their speed of attack is blistering. This isn’t all down to flair; focus your eyes on how Francois Cros and Gregory Alldritt win one-man rucks at pace; those two are their glue players and as nearly as important as Antoine Dupont or Thomas Ramos. This allows lightning-fast ruck ball, with them playing off nine, opening half gaps and making killer half-breaks because of the speed of that ball. It helps that they have four or five forwards that consistently win collisions and make post-contact metres, but the point about emotion remains – they know their game and, at their best, they execute it with detail and process, backing themselves to execute it from accumulated reference points.
Lastly, we look at Ireland; a side that plays with great cohesion based upon spending a long time together. No side creates more penalties from their opposition through pressure, as we saw on Saturday. Bolt-on a formidable attacking lineout and their classic three-phase plays where they will run three attacks off nine before spreading the ball, and you can see just how consistent their thinking and emotional discipline are.
Ireland v England: Five takeaways as Steve Borthwick’s ‘downward spiral’ continues in déjà vu defeat
Leadership key
Wales were led well by Jac Morgan as he delivered a great personal example through words and deeds. They fought and scrapped as hard as they could, but they’re a callow side with many players around the 22-24-year-old mark with little Test experience. They can take a lot from how they refused to buckle under pressure against France, but they need to find firepower if they’re to land a punch back.
England are in a situation where, like the young batter I mentioned earlier, they are reacting in a polarized manner to successes and errors, with scoreboard pressure too much of a focus. Steve Borthwick is creating physical hardness within the group but it’s taking time.
Leadership in rugby isn’t about tub-thumping and yelling. It’s important to lead others through the rollercoaster of a Test in a balanced way and show calm considered thinking under pressure and that leadership, combined with the emotional balance of experience and belief, are the things that are separating the two parts of Tier One rugby at the moment and I expect to see that continue throughout the Six Nations. It will take a big performance by the lower three sides to turn that over.
