‘He’ll be sweating, mate’ – Eddie Jones has ‘heaters on’ for Steve Borthwick as Japan look to shock England
Eddie Jones speaks ahead of his first clash against England since in his new role.
Ahead of his first Test match against England since vacating the head coach role in 2022, Eddie Jones spoke exclusively to Planet Rugby.
Jones’ first game back in charge of Japan will be up against his former employers as he looks to prepare the Brave Blossoms for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
In part two of the interview with the former England supremo, he previews the clash against the Red Rose after assessing the state of rugby union in part one.
Friendships
Jones and Steve Borthwick worked together for some three seasons with England, during Jones’ best period in his role with the Red Rose.
For many observers, it was the perfect combination, with one senior member of the RFU once commenting that “Steve puts the structure in and makes sense out of Eddie’s brilliant chaos.”
It’s a further irony that Borthwick also cohorted Jones as the Brave Blossoms forwards coach up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where Japan famously beat South Africa in Brighton, a highlight of both men’s coaching careers.
England have met Japan once since Jones’ departure; a convincing 34-12 win in the heat of Nice where two players bound for France and no longer available, Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam, excelled. Ironically, on that same day, Eddie’s Wallabies lost to Fiji in St Etienne, a match that threw Pool C wide open and one that the Australian commented, rather wryly.
“After that I probably deserved more, mate,” he said. “They should be throwing baguettes, croissants at me. I deserve whatever I get!”
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For Jones, he moves into this match with an emotional attachment to part of the England team, but he’s far more interested in the players over the nation as he’s pleased with the improvement of some of the people he first capped.
“Look, you always enjoy being part of a player’s personal development,” Jones commented.
“If you look at the team that England are bringing there’s a lot of guys who got their first caps when I was around and it’s only natural that you keep an eye on their progress. You don’t keep in regular contact – I have 36 of my own squad and 22 development players here that take up all my time – but of course, you do like to check up and see how they’re doing.”
Maturing players
Amongst the players that Jones capped whilst in charge, 14 of England’s named 23 were introduced to Test rugby including Marcus Smith, Bevan Rodd, George Furbank, Alex Mitchell and Ollie Lawrence.
“For me it’s about the players that we spotted with potential and gave them a go,” he added.
“The Furbanks, the Mitchells, the Lawrences, the Alex Coles of this squad. We saw their raw potential – especially Furbank and Mitchell – and believed they had the ability to make the step up.
“But Test rugby development isn’t linear. Sometimes you have to show these guys the ‘bar’ – the level that they need to get to. Some get over it straight away, but others, and perhaps a couple that I’ve mentioned there, need to go back into the Premiership or wherever and recalibrate their fitness, sharpness and power to develop into full-blown Test players.
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“They have to see what the standard is, be exposed to it, get beaten up a few times and lose – that’s the learning curve that it takes for elite player development. Some make it right away, but with others it’s far more common to see them get a few caps, drop back into the domestic game and then re-emerge better for it to become proper international performers.”
Top four side
With the Test match on Saturday likely to be played in hot and humid conditions, Jones is cautiously hopeful that his Brave Blossoms might just make a dent in the England aspirations and pull off a surprise.
“England are a top four side in the world now, and Steve has been there more or less for two years. I think most people would say and I certainly agree with that that you generally need three years to build a team,” Jones explained.
“I think he’s getting to that period now where the team belongs to him and he’s starting to build on his set-piece and defence and improve other aspects. He’s got some great promise in the youngsters, but importantly the group I mentioned are maturing into high-quality performers.
“So they’re going to be difficult team to play, but it’s going be a hot steamy afternoon in Tokyo and you never know what can happen. We are just starting our journey – literally, we’ve had six days of training now with the squad. Post Rugby World Cup 2023, there was always a need to rebuild the team.
“So I’m just trying to work out which players we keep from that previous campaign and which of the young talent coming in is ready for Test rugby, but we’ll be certainly putting our best foot forward and playing without much fear.
“League One in Japan is a great platform for young talent development; It’s an attacking game for the purist – rather like Super Rugby was when it first started and that suits the Japanese players, and they in turn are helped by some of the global stars playing here.
“Steve and I caught up recently and I enjoyed that. But come Saturday it’s all different – there’s never really time to catch up and you’ve both got jobs to do. I am genuinely delighted he’s doing well, but I’m rather hoping he won’t do too well against us. He’ll be sweating, mate – we’ve had the heaters on!”
