Eddie Jones to oversee 'forensic' inquest into malfunctioning England
Eddie Jones will oversee a forensic inquest into Saturday’s Calcutta Cup surrender to Scotland as England look to revive their Guinness Six Nations title defence against Italy.
Jones has revealed that his front row will be reinforced for the round-two fixture by the return of Kyle Sinckler from suspension and Mako Vunipola from an Achilles injury, but his immediate focus is on uncovering the reasons for a dire opener.
Scotland celebrated the 150th anniversary of rugby’s oldest rivalry by engineering their first victory at Twickenham since 1983 with the 11-6 scoreline failing to reflect their dominance.
Jones has accepted responsibility and will search for answers ahead of Italy’s visit to Twickenham knowing that England have now been replaced by France as Championship favourites.
“Coaching is about trying to find the edge, how you can do things a little bit better,” Jones said.
“We will be looking into everything, we will be forensic in our analysis of what we did in terms of preparing the team and trying to find ways to do it better.
“I didn’t do it well enough this week along with the coaching staff and we need to find a way to prepare the team better for next week.
“The preparation for the team is a shared responsibility between the players and the coaches. It’s neither one nor the other.
“We’ll definitely speak to the players, but that’s the normal course of action.”
The only aspect of the game where England were not outclassed was the scoreboard and top of Jones’ agenda will be finding out why they were unable to break Scotland’s stranglehold on the 139th meeting between the rivals.
But other flaws were exposed too, most notably an off-key performance from fly-half Owen Farrell and the spectator role played by the back line – even allowing for the lack of ball.
“We didn’t have any tactics because we couldn’t get the ball. You’ve got to have the ball to have some tactics,” Jones said.
“We will definitely do everything we can next week to make sure we are at our best.”
As a senior player, Saracens hooker Jamie George will play a leading role in the soul-searching this week, although he cautions that one loss does not reduce the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup champions to a spent force.
Former England head coach Sir Clive Woodward has issued his former side a scathing rebuke in the wake of their shock defeat to Scotland on Saturday.https://t.co/Evg6Aybc7R
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 8, 2021
“Everyone is gutted, genuinely gutted. We know we weren’t there and everyone is going to be desperate to get things right,” George said.
“You can do a huge amount in a week, but what is required is a positive mindset from everyone within the group – a mentality that we want to come in and get better and are not going to dwell on the result.
“A big point is that we are restricted, because of Covid protocols, in terms of how much time we can spend together as a team, how much social capital we can build as a team. We need to find a way of doing that.
“But we’ll stick together through these bad times. One bad game doesn’t make a bad team. We’ll make sure that we bounce back.”
Comments on RugbyPass
A distinct discomfort with the officiating they were probably selected from the local IRA narcos branch along with the commentators bloody fly tippers.
1 Go to commentsWow, never thought I would read that
1 Go to commentsExcellent match. Great to see Keenan and Ryan back for Leinster. Super result for Ulster. Season is turning around.
1 Go to comments“We need eight or nine new players, who are hard-wearing and durable and experienced Premiership performers”. So why are they scouting a retired fullback who himself admits that his “body is broken”?
1 Go to commentsBrumbies hand, knocked a Crusaders hand. Therefore, knock on in goal. Crusaders, goal line drop out should’ve been awarded. most likely after that 24 each at full time, so extra time would’ve been the right an entertaining outcome. Act Jim
1 Go to commentsSpeell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
5 Go to comments