Don’t be surprised if Eddie Jones is soon handed the keys to Buckingham Palace.

What Jones has engineered with England – turning the creaking ship around in mere months – confirms his status as one of the grandees of world rugby. Only Steve Hansen can rival him for savvy, although Hansen’s job with the gifted All Blacks is one my grandmother could do.

Jones never considered a settling-in period at Twickenham. He came in, shook things up and produced results instantly.

South Africans know all about Jones. He first attracted attention when he reconstructed the Brumbies, coaching them to a debut Super Rugby title in 2001 – the first non-New Zealand team to do so. Attack was his mantra and the Brumbies played extravagant rugby that was enthusiastically received.

He then had stints with the Reds and the Wallabies before his old pal Jake White rang him asking for help during the 2007 World Cup. Jones was then installed as technical advisor with the petty caveat that he would not be awarded a Springbok blazer.

With pressure mounting in the week of the World Cup final, Jones took it upon himself to calm things. The players warmed to him and days later John Smit hoisted the Webb Ellis Cup on a memorable Paris night.

To a man, the players enjoyed Jones’ input, for he often took a left-field view and challenged their dogma. He got them out of their comfort zones.

Months later, I found myself in a car with Jones, driving from Saracens’ dingy north London office into the city. We had a fascinating talk about events at the World Cup and what I recall was how much he had enjoyed the experience. He spoke of the Springboks’ excellent work ethic, mentioning too the single player who had disappointed him.

Despite winning the series with England in Australia, Jones’ greatest moment came at last year’s World Cup when he coached rank outsiders Japan to a defeat of the Boks. There has never been a bigger upset in rugby history.

Those 80 minutes vividly demonstrated Jones’ ability for shrewdness, cunning and tactical excellence. This is on top of his quick wit, which is always biting and effective.

The Stormers shemozzle then followed with Jones flying in, signing and then promptly having a re-think after England came calling. It left a bitter taste, but who could really blame him?

England were desperate. He could name his price.

Jones is known to have been shocked by the lack of skills when he arrived, but he quickly got to work. His approach was brutal and he was intolerant of players who didn’t commit.

Further showing his intent, he had a clean out of coaching staff, bringing in Steve Borthwick, who had done outstanding work with Japan, and defensive wizard Paul Gustard. He also signed Neal Hatley, the Bulawayo expat who had played prop for Natal and Western Province. With more English Premiership caps than anyone, Hatley knows his way around a scrum.

There were other astute appointments, like making serial biter Dylan Hartley his captain. Hartley was the bad boy of English rugby, but he was aggressive, pugnacious and offered the sort of mongrel Jones wanted from England. It was high-risk, but it was Hartley who was spotted lifting the Cook Cup in Sydney on Saturday.

Jones never chucked out Stuart Lancaster’s squad en masse. Instead, he worked hard at getting the best out of them. Former captain Chris Robshaw was retreaded as a blindside flanker and produced the goods heroically.

Even an honest player like James Haskell, a donkey at heart, played like a thoroughbred at openside.

Maro Itoje, the 21-year-old lock, was thrown in and for my money was among England’s best.

Jones also got England’s heads right. They were always a physical side, but that edge has sharpened. England were snarling, baying, always looking to assert their physical dominance. And Australia shirked, unable to absorb the pressure.

Jones has enjoyed a charmed ride and knows there will be tougher tests ahead. South Africa, whom England haven’t beaten in 10 years, await year-end, although sadly there is no looming Test against the All Blacks.

England’s renaissance has confirmed the majesty of Jones’ coaching. Pass the keys to the palace. – © Sunday Tribune

 

 

 

 

 

It was instructive last week to watch the All Blacks’ and Springboks’ performances almost back to back.

In Auckland, the initially sloppy All Blacks fell behind against a spirited, defiant Wales team. They were bent out of shape and their execution was poor. Yet at no point did they panic. Coach Steve Hansen gave fresh instructions at half-time, the team brought resolution to their play and they slapped down the Welsh challenge with a swagger at the finish. It was classic New Zealand counter-punching.

The Springboks were different in Cape Town. Ireland attacked with a ferocity that was as unexpected as it was successful. You suspected the Boks would find a way out of the hole, but instead they fell even deeper, their heads awash with doubt. They were flat and aimless and unable to respond against canny opponents – playing with 14 men no less, and even 13 for a few minutes.

What made it worse was that Ireland, for all their passion, are a team you expect to beat at home. That’s not arrogant. That’s the way it is.

You wonder about South Africa’s mental fortitude at a time like this. Recent months have seen a bewildering collapse of the crucible. Argentina won a first-ever Test match in SA, 80-1 underdogs Japan produced the upset of the modern age at the World Cup and now dear old Ireland have done it too. This week saw the Boks drop to number four in the world. It’s no less than what they deserve.

All sorts of theories have been offered about the reasons – coaching fallibilities, transformation, outdated game plan, poor skills, the player drain – but I would venture to say there is another, and it affects all our sport.

The national mood is rotten. The economy is shot to pieces. Our sense of unity is fragmented. Racism is to be found at every turn. People are angry. These things have served to distract us. The team reflects the morale it finds itself in, the morale we all find ourselves in. They are not immune to it.

And it is something that extends to soccer and to cricket where increasingly the hardships are coming to bear through performance.

Fans look to our national sides for sustenance and inspiration. The country can be burning, politicians can be squabbling and the bread price may be out of whack, but just so long as our teams are winning, we prosper under the illusion that all will be right with the world. We desperately need our teams and our passions to help us escape the gloomy reality.

Teams like the Springboks require resilience above almost all else. It is a component of all great sides for it produces the ability to cope with pressure. But this quality was in short supply last week, much as it has been in recent years where the All Blacks have reigned with barely a nudge from the Boks.

Prior to unity, SA had a superior win record against the All Blacks, but that trajectory has long since stopped. The All Blacks are comfortably 53-35 up in the head-to-head count.

South Africans have begrudgingly accepted that New Zealand are in another league, but the picture changes when teams like Argentina and Ireland come here and do a number on the Boks. It used to be that the Boks could find another gear and engage it whenever they needed to, but that gear has been largely absent in recent seasons.

It could be that this sense of belief has become a part of the slow drift away from performance excellence. The Proteas are a fine example. We know all too well the mental frailties that manifest during major tournaments. It is almost a part of the team’s DNA.

So too Bafana Bafana, who play with an insouciant air that frustrates supporters. Perhaps they too take their cue from the national mood, a festering sense of doom.

It’s easy to point to the tactics or the players or the coach, but the Springbok failings are more nuanced. You probably couldn’t measure the impact of the zeitgeist on performance, but as South Africans we all feel it in our bones.

And it’s bloody awful. – © Sunday Tribune

 

 

 

 

Ellis Park is hell on earth for visiting teams

Not my words. John Smit says so, as he eloquently explained in his autobiography:

“Ellis Park is such a special place for the Boks and hell on earth for the visiting teams. It’s no secret that they feel like they are stepping into a lost valley in hillbilly country. Opponents have told us over a beer how they get a sinking feeling as the bus gets further away from the comfort of their Sandton hotel and passes through the dodgy, run-down areas surrounding the stadium. We’ve heard of fans spitting and banging on their bus as it enters the ground.

“Inside, the stadium is so well designed that the crowd sits on top of you and gets totally involved in the game. The fans really let rip and at the risk of sounding snobbish, there’s something scary about a lot of them. The Aussies reckon Ellis Park is straight out of The Jerry Springer Show and that the fans look almost capable of murder.”

The laager

The Boks tend to play best when their backs are against the wall.

The old laager mentality sets in and they become fiendishly difficult to beat. They will have been stung by the criticism from their poor display at Newlands last week. It’s time to batten down the hatches.

Round up the oxen, fellas.

Dear old Ireland

In the 52 years since Ireland first visited South Africa, they had never enjoyed victory in SA.

Until last week’s shemozzle.

Ireland are a useful bunch at home, but they have no right to expect to win a series in South Africa. Before last week, all seven of their efforts to win a match in SA had ended in defeat – and that’s how it should have stayed.

This isn’t to diminish their efforts – they were magnificent – but to point out the obvious: there won’t be a repeat at Ellis Park.

Ellis Park is the Boks’ fortress. Failure tomorrow would be catastrophic.

Boks by 7-10.