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More Trend : Eddie Jones apologises to Bath owner for calling him the 'Donald Trump of rugby' as England lick their wounds
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| Eddie Jones, the England head coach, is confident he can turn things around ahead of the World Cup |
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Eddie Jones is not for turning. No matter that England once again were blowing hard on the Highveld and fell prey to poor discipline, both issues that are in the remit of a head coach to tend to.
Jones was defiant, prickly even, in fielding
questions that he should reconsider his methods or his position.
England have returned to their training base at sea level in Durban,
a suitable enough location given that the third Test dead-rubber is in
Cape Town.
Perhaps this build-up will enable them to sustain their
rattling start and not fade away as they have done in the two Tests at high altitude.
Three tries at Ellis Park within
the first quarter, two here within 13 minutes through wings, Mike Brown
and Jonny May, yet nothing thereafter. In Johannesburg there was a late
rally.
In Bloemfontein there was not even the scant consolation of
raging against the dying light. England did not score another point in
the remaining 67 minutes.
It is perfectly legitimate to wonder if England ran out of puff
because they had not acclimatised properly.
The England sports
scientists say not. The naked eye say they did.
No matter. Retrospective proof or self-justification is no longer
relevant.
The series has been lost and that is a significant stain on a
well-resourced England team who had targeted this trip as the dress
rehearsal for life on the road in the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 15
months’ time.
Even a win in Cape Town will be pretty meaningless, given
that the Springboks intend to experiment with their line-up. England
ought not to seek any crumbs of comfort at Newlands. The cupboard is
bare in that regard. The series was all that mattered.
More Trend : Eddie Jones apologises to Bath owner for calling him the 'Donald Trump of rugby' as England lick their wounds
There is
little doubt England are a splintered entity, railing against all those
outside the camp, be it the media to tunnel incidents following both
Tests.
It may be a stretch to link directly a lack of self-control off the field with ill-discipline on it (another 13 penalties conceded on Saturday to add to the 17 the week before), but something is amiss.
Jones has never been one to shy away from confrontation and, in many ways, such a spiky exterior can serve a team well.
Many sides have thrived within the walls of such a siege mentality, but England have not. They need a different approach, a tilt on the tiller, be that of tactics, personnel or mindset.
Jones, though, insists that England are on the right track and that he will not be doing anything radically different, despite the clamour for change.
England supporters, many of whom are here in South Africa, are baffled. The head coach is adamant that things will eventually take a turn for the better.
And how can he say that with such conviction?
“Just like when I took the team over that couldn’t make it out of their World Cup pool,” said Jones who won his first 18 Tests in charge, a world record-equalling sequence.
“This is the job of the coach, to find a way to turn it around. I know as a coach you have a certain role and, if I wasn’t doing that role as well as I could, I would have a loss of confidence.
My job is to make the team win and it is not winning. But I have also got a job to do, which is the process of coaching. I think I am doing that as well as I can. And the results will come. But it’s tough.
It may be a stretch to link directly a lack of self-control off the field with ill-discipline on it (another 13 penalties conceded on Saturday to add to the 17 the week before), but something is amiss.
Jones has never been one to shy away from confrontation and, in many ways, such a spiky exterior can serve a team well.
Many sides have thrived within the walls of such a siege mentality, but England have not. They need a different approach, a tilt on the tiller, be that of tactics, personnel or mindset.
Jones, though, insists that England are on the right track and that he will not be doing anything radically different, despite the clamour for change.
England supporters, many of whom are here in South Africa, are baffled. The head coach is adamant that things will eventually take a turn for the better.
And how can he say that with such conviction?
“Just like when I took the team over that couldn’t make it out of their World Cup pool,” said Jones who won his first 18 Tests in charge, a world record-equalling sequence.
“This is the job of the coach, to find a way to turn it around. I know as a coach you have a certain role and, if I wasn’t doing that role as well as I could, I would have a loss of confidence.
My job is to make the team win and it is not winning. But I have also got a job to do, which is the process of coaching. I think I am doing that as well as I can. And the results will come. But it’s tough.