Eddie Jones – We’re playing with the big boys now

The second division instalment of the Six Nations is over, and, despite away wins over Scotland and Italy, England have done nothing yet according to Eddie Jones. Now, it’s on to the first division segment with games at Twickenham against Ireland on Saturday, and Wales a fortnight later, with the sign off against France in Paris to follow.
As for the Premiership stuff, England’s Aussie coach makes no bones about saying that the real step-up will come in just over three months when England arrive in Australia for their three Test series against the World Cup runners-up. The pecking order is obvious in the mind of Jones, and no-one looking at the quality of the rugby so far in this Six Nations compared to the World Cup – whether in terms of execution or ambition – has any justification for taking umbrage.
It is difficult not to like the clear thinking and the conviction with which Jones has set about prodding England back into life, and this week there was more of the same in his midweek Press conference at a Kensington hotel, complete with sharp-edge responses to some questioners.
The Australian is a hard task-master who sets the performance bar much higher than this Red Rose squad are used to, and his straight-talking is refreshing after the selectorial fudging and endless ‘culture club’ references in the last year of the previous England regime.
This hard-nosed outlook was highlighted when he was asked whether he considered it to be part of his job to offer reassurance to those on the fringes of the squad, and those with aspirations to be in it. The riposte was instant. “I don’t have to keep them interested, they have to keep me interested…”
Jones is also keenly aware that the physicality and structure that the Irish and Welsh will bring to Twickenham are the acid test of his first Six Nations campaign, which is why he wasted no time in putting last weekend’s win over Italy, and the imminent match against reigning Six Nations champions Ireland, in perspective.
He pointed out that a 40-9 win over a callow, fledgeling Italy is nothing to crow about. “They are 13th or 14th ranked in the world, (so) we should be able to give them a hiding. We didn’t give them a hiding – and we’ve got to be better than that.”
What was also notable about the trip to Rome was that Jones has been the first England coach since Clive Woodward prepared to blood players against Italy, thereby broadening his selection base. That he did it in only his second game in charge is testament to his confidence, and the dividend is that Maro Itoje and Paul Hill have joined Jack Clifford in ramping up the competitive dynamic in the pack in the build-up to the Ireland clash.
That is an essential component if England are to avenge their comprehensive defeat in last season’s Championship by the eventual title winners. The launchpad for the near-unopposed aerial assault in Dublin which won Ireland the game was a set-piece which was superior to England’s in every facet, and an urgency and savvy at the breakdown which left the visitors bereft.
With the English forwards unable to squeeze the Irish at either the scrum or lineout, or rattle them in the loose, Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton had the luxury of being able to check the coordinates of the Red Rose targets coach Joe Schmidt had selected before dropping a battery of aerial missiles on top of them. With chasers like Robbie Henshaw accurate and aggressive in hounding England into mistakes, it was the Irish who made all the running.
Jones says his team will be ready for a game of Aussie Rules having noted that under Schmidt’s direction Ireland usually kick 60 per cent of their possession, with their 10-9 reverse against the French in Paris last weekend no exception.
However, when it was put to him that with the retirements of totems like Paul O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll, as well as a shed load of high-profile injuries – with Paris casualties Sean O’Brien and Dave Kearney joining long-term absentees Tommy Bowe, Ian Henderson, Peter O’Mahony, Luke Fitzgerald and Marty Moore – it was as good a time as any to play Ireland, there was no outpouring of sympathy.
“Every team goes through generation changes, doesn’t it? They’re going through one, but they’ve got the benefit of being a winning team over a long period of time, so that compensates for the loss of some key players. They are a smartly coached team. They always have a very distinct strategy. They play to their strengths, and maximise their resources.”
Jones said that although he had never coached head-to-head against Schmidt he rated him highly. “I think he’s an outstanding coach. He maximises the resources of his team. You look at the Irish team, they’ve done really well with the players they’ve had.”
He added: “They use Sexton well – they use little loop plays because they haven’t got big ball-runners. They are clever around the lineout, they’ve got nice little variations, they’ve got a reasonable driving maul, and they use two or three-phase sequence plays to good effect.
“They minimise their risk. They are a risk-averse team because they kick the ball so much – a bit of Stoke City, although Tony Pulis wasn’t happy (with that comparison)…”
Jones is right to be wary because Murray is in mint condition and Sexton, although roughed-up by the French and with a worrying history of concussion, is still capable of inspirational moments at fly-half.
Having described Murray as, “one of the most outstanding scrum-halves in the world”, the England coach is plotting to put an inferno of heat on the Irish half-back pairing.
However, he added, “but to get to Murray, you have to do other things.”
Among those things is to apply set-piece pressure, and although the Irish scrum creaked badly against the French in the prelude to Maxime Medard’s late winning try, for the rest of the time against France and, in the opening draw against Wales, it was solid. The same applies to the Irish lineout, although Devin Toner is a more obvious target now that O’Connell is out of the equation. Whether England are good enough to batter Ireland at the set-piece, or the breakdown, will decide whether they continue undefeated, or give the Irish a leg-up to defend their title. Jones is a canny operator, but even so what he said about the current status of the England pack suggested that nobody should break out the bunting just yet.
“We are a bit like an old car at the moment…our lineout worked really well in the first game, the scrum was a bit shaky. The second game our lineout was shaky, our scrum was good. But I think we are going in the right direction – we have definitely got the bits and pieces there to have a very good set-piece pack.”
The driving maul that became the Achilles heel pre-Jones also needs attention – and the coach intends to make sure it gets it. “Again, in the first game we were good. The second game, because our lineout fell apart, our maul seemed to fall apart. So, again, that is an area we have got to keep working on. What has happened is that teams are better at varying their defence, and one of the things we weren’t good on at the weekend was recognising that. We gave away two penalties in that area, which we shouldn’t do.”
If anything, what Jones said about the breakdown was even more of a concern. Having failed to rule the roost against either Scotland or Italy due to shortfalls in perception, pace and body position, the coach acknowledges that it is a problem area.
“If you look at the World Cup stats, England were ranked eighth in breakdown attack and eighth in breakdown defence. So, this is not a temporary problem – it’s been a problem for a long time. And therefore, if it’s a problem for a long time, it takes a long time to fix. The breakdown is always about skill, it’s about decision-making, it’s about accuracy…”
Jones said that progress was being made, however the suggestion that young guns like Itoje and Clifford being introduced in the back-row might offer a quick fix was batted straight back. “I don’t want quick fixes,”  Jones said.
“I want to build a team that is sustainably successful. To do that you need a solid base, and what I’m trying to create this season is a solid base. If it gets a solid base, it’s easy to add things.”
My sense is that Jones is playing a stealthy game, and that Schmidt, who is renowned for precision set moves and springing tactical surprises, will find that he is facing a kindred spirit.
The Irish coach and his team can expect no respite because England’s effort in the areas that Jones identifies as their shortcomings will be redoubled.
At the scrum Dan Cole and Dylan Hartley will be charged with making further gains, the back row will be under orders to make life miserable for Murray, Clifford and Itoje will be expected to make their mark in the loose (whether off the bench or as starters), and the Irish back three can expect a high-ball barrage from hell.
Jones will also be calculating that the further he can force the Irish away from Schmidt’s play-book the more vulnerable they will be with George Ford, Owen Farrell, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell playing what they see in front of them.
Hence, when he was asked when England fans will see the best of an Eddie Jones team, the coach was transformed from serious critic into smiling optimist.
“Ireland. That’s what I’m hoping for. Whether that happens or not, I’m not sure. You’re always hoping it’s going to happen next week. Sometimes it happens in three weeks, sometimes it takes three years. You don’t know.”
What Jones says he does know is that he’s got an England side that is good enough to win against Ireland – and if they do that, they’ll be in the hunt to supplant the Irish as first division champions.
NICK CAIN