The Rugby Thread

[Donegal Wolf]

Eddie Jones in talks with the RFU

Ritchie McCaw retires going to become a helicopter pilot

 

[Dinowolf]

This picture says more than a thousand words.
Respect

 

[Dinowolf]

Eddie Jones has agreed terms to be England RU coach, according to Sky.

 

[lemonjelly]

Confirmed. 4 year deal starting in a month.

What are peoples thoughts?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Bags of experience. Pretty good record most of the time when with the Brumbies and Australia.

Seems to be bringing in an English coach with him in Borthwick, which is a good thing. As a bonus it almost certainly is bye bye Rowntree.

Suck it and see I guess. Just glad you haven't tried to entice Gatland from a personal point of view.

 

[Lord Knows]

The question it raises is, Does English sport develop good sports coaches?
As we see with the national football sides of the past and also with the Cricket there is no trust in English sports management. When was the last time an English manager won the Premier league in football.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

First division - Howard Wilkinson with Leeds

 

[Lord Knows]

First division - Howard Wilkinson with Leeds

If we look at the people who are placed in support roles within the national setup such as Steve McClaren and Stuart Pearce one struggles to hold down a job within the Premier league while the other struggles to hold down a position with Talksport.
Where is the learning process?

 

[Dinowolf]

Eddie Jones says he is going to speak to the present coaches between now and 1st December before he announces anything.
He also said that he will work to establish an English coach to take over the helm after the 2019 World Cup, but his priority will be the game against Scotland.

 

[Donegal Wolf]

Confirmed. 4 year deal starting in a month.

What are peoples thoughts?

Hard to know, 2 months ago you would have though his days as a tier 1 national coach were gone. As Paddy said he did well at the Brumbies and Wallabies but that was 2000-2003, since then a very slow decline from the very top of the game, still a solid coach but there wasnt a stampede to sign him up when he made it know earlier int the year he was leaving Japan, then came the World Cup and we all saw what he did with Japan.

Weather that is just a spike in his later career and was a one-off ability to get the best out of the Japanese players (his mother was Japanese) or he has managed to put together a game plan to suit the modern game/players is the big question.

 

[Tredman]

Disappointing really, there are a few up and coming English coaches and experienced ones, like Mallinder.

Woodward was comprehensively a better coach than Jones, if we want an older coach I'd rather go back to a proven English coach.

National team should mean national coach, not some random mercenary.

 

[Dinowolf]

Hard to know, 2 months ago you would have though his days as a tier 1 national coach were gone. As Paddy said he did well at the Brumbies and Wallabies but that was 2000-2003, since then a very slow decline from the very top of the game, still a solid coach but there wasnt a stampede to sign him up when he made it know earlier int the year he was leaving Japan, then came the World Cup and we all saw what he did with Japan.

Weather that is just a spike in his later career and was a one-off ability to get the best out of the Japanese players (his mother was Japanese) or he has managed to put together a game plan to suit the modern game/players is the big question.

I don't remember you commenting on Schmidt's background or record when he moved from Leinster to take over from Kidney. There wasn't a 'stampede' for him either but he has proved successful and although I don't know how it will go with Jones in charge, I wish him all the best.

BTW Jones assisted White and South Africa to win the WC in 2007 and Botha, who has just retired, says he had a bigger influence than people realise.

It may all blow-up in our faces but we will have to wait and see how his style fits in with our national players and coaches. It's easy to pick holes in anyone's background as no-one is perfect, but he may just be the turning point for the England RFU.

 

[Dinowolf]

Disappointing really, there are a few up and coming English coaches and experienced ones, like Mallinder.

Woodward was comprehensively a better coach than Jones, if we want an older coach I'd rather go back to a proven English coach.

National team should mean national coach, not some random mercenary.

How can he be a mercenary when the RFU went to him?

I get it that you're disappointed that an English coach hasn't been appointed and I have to admit that I would also have preferred an English coach but I'm prepared not to be parochial, and now the appointment has been made, I'm prepared to wait and see how things develop, and how the future unfolds for our coaches and players.

 

[Tredman]

How can he be a mercenary when the RFU went to him?

I get it that you're disappointed that an English coach hasn't been appointed and I have to admit that I would also have preferred an English coach but I'm prepared not to be parochial, and now the appointment has been made, I'm prepared to wait and see how things develop, and how the future unfolds for our coaches and players.

Agreed that mercenary isn't the correct word - but leaving a club 2 weeks after joining hardly looks good.

I'm not sure it's parochial though, to me the England team is the pinnacle of the game for English players AND coaches.

 

[Dinowolf]

Agreed that mercenary isn't the correct word - but leaving a club 2 weeks after joining hardly looks good.

I'm not sure it's parochial though, to me the England team is the pinnacle of the game for English players AND coaches.

Maybe we'll get our wish in four years time.

 

[Donegal Wolf]

I don't remember you commenting on Schmidt's background or record when he moved from Leinster to take over from Kidney. There wasn't a 'stampede' for him either but he has proved successful and although I don't know how it will go with Jones in charge, I wish him all the best.

BTW Jones assisted White and South Africa to win the WC in 2007 and Botha, who has just retired, says he had a bigger influence than people realise.

It may all blow-up in our faces but we will have to wait and see how his style fits in with our national players and coaches. It's easy to pick holes in anyone's background as no-one is perfect, but he may just be the turning point for the England RFU.

Seriously?

Schmidt had just won the previous 2 Heineken Cups with Leinster, NZ wanted to bring him back into their coaching set-up, there was no need for a stampede as he was a shoe-in for the Ireland job and plenty of commentators (not Irish) said he was at the time, best coach in the NH, he actually had no holes in his background at the time.

I did know he had assisted White, that was in 2007, 8 years ago, also big difference between assistant an head coach, since then he had failed runs at Saracens and Reds before he landed in Japan.

I wasn't trying to be critical of Jones appointment, he could well be a good appointment as I said he did well with Japan in the World Cup and was a solid coach, and in the last paragraph said maybe he has managed to put together a game plan to suit the modern game.

He will have no excuses if its doesn't go right,its a plum job he has landed, England he has probably the best bunch of young players to work with in the world.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Ultimately Lancaster just couldn't get us over the line when it really mattered - so no Six Nations wins (despite what is a very good win/loss record of late) and losing when the pressure was on in the World Cup. There really isn't much remedial work to do with the squad, it's the marginal gains which make the difference between an unfulfilled talented team and a successful one. As much a mental issue as anything else.

 

[Dinowolf]

I wasn't trying to be critical of Jones appointment, he could well be a good appointment as I said he did well with Japan in the World Cup and was a solid coach, and in the last paragraph said maybe he has managed to put together a game plan to suit the modern game.

He will have no excuses if its doesn't go right,its a plum job he has landed, England he has probably the best bunch of young players to work with in the world.

OK mate, I have to say that I did think your comment was critical. As I've said since, we'll have to wait and see although I can't think of a better available internationally experienced coach that England could have appointed.
I liked his comment about stepping down after the next World Cup hopefully for an English coach he will have helped on the way.

"I will be 59 by the next World Cup and I will be watching cricket in Barbados. That is one of my dreams," Jones said. "I see international coaching as a four-year project. I have been involved with Australia, South Africa and Japan and I think four years is a good period.

"You can do a lot with players in four years and then it's time for someone else to do it. I see it as part of my job in the four years to develop England coaches to take over.

"Everyone wants to have their own nationalities as a head coach and I understand that. But I have a job to take England forward while developing some England coaches. I can do that."

 

[Lord Knows]

Why is Shaun Edwards continually overlooked when it comes to choosing the bloke for the top job in English rugby?

 

[Dinowolf]

Why is Shaun Edwards continually overlooked when it comes to choosing the bloke for the top job in English rugby?

He has previously stated he's happy where he is. What will happen in the near future is up to him, should he be approached.