Wallabies 2023

[The Red Baron]

Eddie Jones picks out his biggest mistake as England head coach

Eddie Jones has identified his continued selection of Saracens players in 2021 as the biggest mistake he made as England head coach.

punditarena.com

The 62-year-old said if he could change one thing about his approach it would be his selection criteria, which saw many in-form Premiership players overlooked during his time in charge.

“We always make mistakes. If today I could go back in time, maybe I would change some of my selection criteria,” he said

“2021 was a very bad year for us. Saracens had just been demoted to the second division. As you probably know, the XV of England was then mainly formed by players from the Sarries.”

Jones continued to back the majority of his 2019 World Cup final side, who went on to capture the 2020 Six Nations, but the wheels started to come off during 2021.

“The problem is that their level has dropped considerably, in the second division and that the performances of our national team immediately suffered from it,” he said.

“So I should have changed my tune, that year. And I regret it, this is the mistake I made.”

England finished fifth in the 2021 Six Nations for the first time since 2018, which forced a reset that saw many stars dropped by the November internationals.

A new core of young players were brought in like Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward but the side failed to click in 2022 with just five wins from the 12 Tests in the calendar year.

Jones was criticized for his reluctance to blood form players at times during his tenure, particularly in 2021 when England finished second to last in the Six Nations.

 

[Wilson]

Looks like it's Neal Hatley as scrum coach, with Palmer there on an apprenticeship:

Exclusive: Eddie opts for former England assistant to join Wallabies ahead of World Cup

Slowly but surely Eddie Jones is putting the pieces of the puzzle together. The latest, The Roar can reveal, is reuniting with his former…

www.theroar.com.au

 

[Gillys_ghost]

Does anyone have any info on him that isn't provided in the article? It sounds like a pretty great signing to me.

 

[molman]

Looks like it's Neal Hatley as scrum coach, with Palmer there on an apprenticeship:

Exclusive: Eddie opts for former England assistant to join Wallabies ahead of World Cup

Slowly but surely Eddie Jones is putting the pieces of the puzzle together. The latest, The Roar can reveal, is reuniting with his former…

www.theroar.com.au

Does anyone have any info on him that isn't provided in the article? It sounds like a pretty great signing to me.

I think that's a good signing and the bonus of it being a mentorship for Palmer who can hopefully evolve into a future scrum coach for the Wallabies (or at the very least an improved one for the Brumbies). The England scrum was pretty solid up to and during the 2019 RWC when Hatley was doing his thing.

I believe he's at Bath at the moment who are struggling, so I can see why he might be keen for something else. I'm not sure how their scrum is currently going as I don't follow them closely enough.

The NH have been importing SH coaching talent for years. I think it's pretty sensible to be looking at who might add value where-ever they come from.

Now if we can just convince Razor to come on as Attack coach

 

[stillmissit]

Maybe a reason why Jones was hesitant to bring in the new players in 2021 is because he didn't think they were a better option yet. It seems pretty clear they weren't.

Jones is very conservative, I have said it before. He is a master of taking a side someone has built and turning them into stars or in McQueen's case keeping that star shining. He can't build teams, he has never done that. After link took over the reds Phil Mooney built then won the Super Rugby title Eddie joined what he assumed to be a winning team. He bailed on them and I'd be interested to hear what Reds supporters who know more about that than I do.
I suspect that all of those here expecting him to build a team of world beaters are going to get a rough wake up call. He will take pretty much what Rennie did and see what he can make of it, not easy due to injuries etc.

 

[stillmissit]

Maybe England are just shit at the moment and Eddie was polishing a turd/ Borthwick has come in and smeared that turd all around.

Their performances have declined, not improved.

Look at the Reds after Eddie left for turd analogies.

 

[Wilson]

After link took over the reds Phil Mooney built then won the Super Rugby title Eddie joined what he assumed to be a winning team. He bailed on them and I'd be interested to hear what Reds supporters who know more about that than I do.

You might want to have another look at the dates on those appointments...

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I expect the Wallabies to have a bit of a Dead Cat bounce this year and it may run into the WC but after that has me concerned because we signed the bloke to a Scientology level contract.

Does anyone know if there were any performance clauses etc included?

 

[Sword of Justice]

I expect the Wallabies to have a bit of a Dead Cat bounce this year and it may run into the WC but after that has me concerned because we signed the bloke to a Scientology level contract.

Does anyone know if there were any performance clauses etc included?

I am still grappling with the long term nature of the deal also. His track record is of diminishing returns and it's not yet exactly clear what his role will be later in the term.

Almost certain that standards will be lifted significantly in the short term though.

 

[stillmissit]

You might want to have another look at the dates on those appointments...

Yes, all arse about face as I was trying to grab the bits I wanted from Wiki. Eddie took them to the wooden spoon in 2007 then Mooney rebuilt the team.
I would have liked to see Mooney more involved in Aus rugby, he is the head coach at a school which seems a waste to me.

 

[Tomthumb]

Yes, all arse about face as I was trying to grab the bits I wanted from Wiki. Eddie took them to the wooden spoon in 2007 then Mooney rebuilt the team.
I would have liked to see Mooney more involved in Aus rugby, he is the head coach at a school which seems a waste to me.

Re-built the team by finishing 12th and 13th the 2 years after Eddie left?

Some rebuild...

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

A waste for us but not for him. Quite a comfortable lifestyle if all his needs are being met. Richard Graham gone that path now. Brian Smith did it for a decade. Didn't Hosea Gear land a School Boy job as well in QLD?

 

[fatprop]

I expect the Wallabies to have a bit of a Dead Cat bounce this year and it may run into the WC but after that has me concerned because we signed the bloke to a Scientology level contract.

Does anyone know if there were any performance clauses etc included?

It will be all down to injuries, if he is inflicted with the same level as Rennie, we can expect the same level of performance

 

[stillmissit]

Re-built the team by finishing 12th and 13th the 2 years after Eddie left?

Some rebuild...

Tom thumb, I can't help it if all you can see is what's attached to the end of your nose. At least Link could see what Mooney had built, I don't think he would have taken over a bunch of no hopers. So did Australian rugby eventually as many of the players Mooney brought in became Wallabies.

 

[stillmissit]

A waste for us but not for him. Quite a comfortable lifestyle if all his needs are being met. Richard Graham gone that path now. Brian Smith did it for a decade. Didn't Hosea Gear land a School Boy job as well in QLD?

Ghost, I've never thought of it that way, my way has always been - onwards and upwards until the 6ft trip down.

 

[stillmissit]

Coaches know (like many in business) that some mug can do the hard work of laying the foundations and if you time your run you can be the hero.

Eddie did it with England but had no idea how to rebuild when the time came.

 

[TSR]

Wrong again, idiot. The players have nothing to do with it. The bad fortunes of a professional rugby team are entirely the fault of the head coach and all positive progress made is down to the assistants. Everything else is irrelevant chaff.

This is the immutable law of Rodha.

I don’t write this to defend Rodha - but if you read some of the comments on here it would appear some think all of the issues with the Wallabies come down to Rennie (and Chieka before him).

 

[Braveheart81]

Eddie did it with England but had no idea how to rebuild when the time came.

Seems like a stretch to suggest that the hard work had already been done in the 2015 England team that got knocked out in the pool stages of their home RWC.

They got to the number one ranking in World Rugby and made the 2019 RWC Final.

Likewise that someone else had already laid the foundations for the 2015 Japanese team that beat South Africa.

 

[John S]

I don’t write this to defend Rodha - but if you read some of the comments on here it would appear some think all of the issues with the Wallabies come down to Rennie (and Chieka before him).

Honestly, I think there's a bit of both - some issues were the cattle, other issues the coaches.

But, if we're going to be objective (hardly likely on a rugby forum), we can't just look at say the shambles that is the England team at the moment and say "it was all Eddie's fault", neither can we look at the Wallabies and say "Eddie's the saviour"

But, I'd rather be optimistic than start death riding the Wallabies/EJ (Eddie Jones) before he even does an actual training session or plays a game yet.

EDIT (I think we might be agreeing here?)

 

[stillmissit]

Seems like a stretch to suggest that the hard work had already been done in the 2015 England team that got knocked out in the pool stages of their home RWC.

They got to the number one ranking in World Rugby and made the 2019 RWC Final.

Likewise that someone else had already laid the foundations for the 2015 Japanese team that beat South Africa.

BH, like all of us you can believe whatever the hell you like. The idea of doing all the hard work is rational as it ain't easy to bring in many new players and get them heading in the right direction. I have done it a few times in my working days.
I am of the view that this is how coaches work ie looking for an opportunity, it is just human nature to take advantage of a situation. Eddie most probably looked at the England team and thought 'they ain't a bad group of players I can make something of them' and he did.
I have no idea how Eddie acted in Japan, I didn't follow his career, I was just pleased to see the back of him. I will applaud him if he can get us to a decent level at the RWC.