Opinion: Eddie Jones’ five New Year’s resolutions

Adam Kyriacou

Planet Rugby features writer James While maps out five New Year’s resolutions for England head coach Eddie Jones as we move into 2020.

Believe in the methods

Let’s be pragmatic about this; England should not be ashamed nor disappointed in finishing second in the Rugby World Cup. It’s accurate to say that they were properly beaten by a better side in South Africa.

When you look back and ask what could have been done differently, the answer is that with the players you had, not a lot.

What was far more warming was the style that England played, the verve of their attacks and the handling skills of the forwards. In all of those areas, England showed a quantum leap from their performances of yesteryear.

The key for Jones is to continue to believe in the methods of finesse, fitness, power and pace that he’s already delivered. The personnel change to suit, but the method is working and England will continue to soar if Jones continues to believe.

A clean sheet

Whilst the methods and structure must remain, Jones will want to tear up every team sheet he’s ever written and start over. Whilst he will know the core of his team moving forward, the key point here is ‘don’t pick anyone who won’t be available for 2023’. It’s much better to develop talent than go down the dead end of picking someone to get you through to the end of the season.

It’s safe to say that maybe only eight of the starting XV from the Rugby World Cup are ‘bankers’ for selection and Jones will look to Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Tom Curry and Henry Slade to lead his team into the new decade.

High profile absentees for 2020 are likely to be Ben Youngs, Dan Cole, Mark Wilson and George Ford. Even the Vunipola brothers will come under scrutiny as for all of their handling brilliance, their inclusion in a Test side means a depowerment of both set-pieces – put simply Mako isn’t the best scrummager and Billy’s continued presence at eight means no line-out option, something that cost England dearly in the final.

Despite the performances and track record for England of these great servants, Jones will not be frightened of change.

Find the right backroom staff

The notion that any international coach can deliver every aspect of team management himself is wrong.

The best coaches are able to identify, recruit and empower the best people to work for them; in simple business terms, you recruit to cover your own weaknesses and Jones will look to employ the best, fearless of anyone taking his job from him.

Already, he’s poached South Africa’s scrum engineer, Matt Proudfoot and he’s currently searching for the right attack/skills coach to replace the outstanding contributions of the departing Scott Wisemantel.

Jones is a master of getting the right people involved. Who else would have identified the need to have the fatherly figure of Richard Hill managing the touchline activities of the team in a manner that gives confidence to the squad and also to the match officials? It was an outstanding move to get Hill’s excellence back into the heartbeat of the side and he’s a key councillor of the players – a man who has seen it all, done it all and delivered it all mentoring young internationals to levels of excellence he once created.

This culture of recruiting excellence must run right through every piece of DNA within the team, from Comms Managers to Kit Managers, every appointment needs scrutiny.

Positioning

We alluded to a clean sheet earlier on, but in specific terms, there’s some glaring weaknesses in the selection and personnel currently used by England, something that the final itself highlighted.

Improve the set-piece

It’s clear that there’s something amiss in terms of English scrummaging. Mako Vunipola, for all his running exploits, is an average scrummager, as is Jamie George. Harry Williams’ and Alec Hepburn’s destruction of the Saracens front-row last weekend told us all we need to know. Maybe it’s time to look at the likes of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge and others? In the line-out, England can no longer go into Tests with three back-row forwards who are below 6’2″, thus giving them precisely two primary options when other teams have five. South Africa knew that the touchline was theirs for 80 minutes in the final and that proved to be the biggest point of differentiation of all.

Find a half-back combination

There’s a progressive need to replace Ben Youngs as he moves into the twilight of his career. Willi Heinz and Richard Wigglesworth were great short-term servants but now we need to see Ben Spencer, Alex Mitchell and Jack Maunder given their chances. At 10, let’s stick with one first-choice pivot, and that has to be Farrell whilst looking at developing the talents of Joe Simmonds, Max Malins and Marcus Smith elsewhere.

Balance the back-row

When Jones created the so called ‘Kamikaze Kids’, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, alongside Billy Vunipola, there was something in the back of his mind saying “I want to recreate the Back/Hill/Dallaglio combination”. Sadly, he failed, as the skills within the current back-row trio are incomplete. Something has to change here, whether that’s defocusing on Vunipola to allow a more athletic eight into the side, or hanging your colours on developing a better all-rounder on the blindside. Assuming Vunipola’s ongoing fitness, Jones is likely to take the latter route, looking at the likes of Alex Dombrandt, Tom Ellis and Ted Hill for the shirt, whilst also developing Ben Earl’s versatility across openside and eight. There’s also a chance that Itoje could find himself at six if his mobility and impact in the loose continue on their upward curve.

Find a full-back

Elliot Daly has proven himself many times in the shirt of England or the Lions. Sadly, he’s also proven he’s not a dominant Test full-back. The England wing stocks are strong but there’s a crying need for a running, physical 15. Whether that be George Furbank or returning Anthony Watson back to full-back is moot, but it’s clear there’s a change to be made.

Find an enforcer

The last piece of the jigsaw is finding a ‘serious unit’. England need a Will Skelton, an Eben Etzebeth style player who is physically powerful in line-out and loose. George Kruis and Itoje are high quality operators without offering those qualities, but that doesn’t mean to say Jones cannot improve upon them. Favourite is David Ribbans, the big Saints lock, who at 6’8″ and 19 stone could be just the man required.

Chill out

The days of comical and obtuse press conferences and interviews must go.

Let’s be a little more honest with the public, with more open dialogue to engage with all round you by being a little less obtuse. The approach of throwaway one liners and confusing responses must go. We realise you’re a great coach and people want to work with you and play for you.

Get a balance back into the team environment where the mood of the coach doesn’t permeate so deeply into the emotions of the team, as it perhaps does now.

There’s a view within the game that Jones does this because of a deep insecurity that the English people aren’t sure about him.

Well, take it from us that we both respect and like you!

by James While