Eddie Jones ‘felt a bit sick’ after England hammering as Steve Borthwick’s side lost their ’emotional control’
England players dejected after Ireland Six Nations defeat and former head coach Eddie Jones.
Former England head coach Eddie Jones admitted that the Six Nations loss to Ireland brought back some bad memories during his time in charge.
Steve Borthwick’s men were hammered 42-21 by Andy Farrell’s side as the English succumbed to their second successive defeat in the competition.
It effectively leaves their title aspirations in tatters. There was much talk before the Six Nations of the finale against France being a Grand Slam decider, but only one of those teams can now claim that honour.
Despite 12 wins in a row prior to the Scotland encounter, Borthwick is back under pressure given the nature of those reversals.
Jones certainly understands the fickle nature of being the head coach of England having had plenty of ups and downs during his seven years in charge.
‘Looking for blood’
“I felt a bit sick at the end of the game. I’ve had that feeling; the grey sky looks like it’s coming down on you, there’s this eerie feeling in the stadium, you look at the stadium and it’s only half full,” he said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“Everyone’s gone and the people who are still there are looking for a bit of blood.
“I’m serious about that. I have an affection for England but, as an Australian, we have a funny relationship with the Poms don’t we?”
Jones then delved into some of the key parts of the game and why Ireland managed to get on top against England on Saturday.
“I thought Andy Farrell’s management of Jamison Gibson-Park was outstanding. Against Italy, he put him on the bench, played 30 minutes, increased the tempo of the game and he looked sharp right from the start.
“Obviously playing off the back of fast ball which helps, but the way he brought his attack to the gain line. The other part of that was I thought Ireland attacked a lot flatter, a lot more off nine.
“You think of the number of times that [Jack] Crowley touched the ball, it wasn’t a lot, so they took that issue out of the 10.
“They played a lot more off nine which they were allowed to do because the ball was fast and because of that the decision-making of England’s defenders was really tested.
“They had to make a lot of decisions because the ball was at the line. You think about the line break that Doris made, it went long pass then short pass and the defender doesn’t fill the space – I think it might have been [Ellis] Genge in that situation – and you saw that a couple of times which had an affect on the game.”
Steve Borthwick threatens changes in wake of Ireland loss as ‘mountain to climb’ assessment offered
England’s work ethic
There were question marks about the work ethic of England’s players during their loss on Saturday, but Jones believes it is not quite as simple as that.
“I was watching the Gold Coast Titans play against the [Melbourne] Storm in a [rugby league] pre-season game. There was not a lot on it but everything that went well for the Titans, you got 13 players slapping, yahooing, but to do that for a whole season, do that for four games and to do that when the game’s going against you, is difficult,” he said.
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“You look at England and it looks like they’ve gone from the hardest working team to not one of the hardest working teams, but the problem’s not their effort, it’s their emotional control.
“What does that come to? It can generally come down to the preparation of the game, it can come down to the leadership on the field, it can come down to one or two players not particularly buying into the team.
“It could be any one of those factors, but I thought from that point of view it was a really interesting game.”
