England pressure is unique in world rugby – Jones

Japan vs. South Africa

The job of England head coach is the hardest job in the sport, according to Eddie Jones, because of the relentless pressure to win every Rugby World Cup cycle.

England reached the final of Japan 2019 after almost seven years of leadership under Jones.

However, England only won five of its 12 Test matches in 2022, leaving Jones with nine months until the Rugby Football Union (RFU) can fire him.

When Jones asked whether playing as England’s head coach was particularly challenging, he replied, “It is, but that’s the deal.

You can’t complain about accepting that because you know when you start the job. You must just move forward with it.

You just need to make sure, mate, that you keep your head above water.

South Africa, the reigning two-time world champions, have won the previous two World Cups indifferently from the previous years.

The Springboks won seven of their 14 Tests in Rassie Erasmus’ first year as head coach. Across 2021 and 2022, their win rate was only 61.5%.

At the end of those two periods, they were ranked fifth and fourth in the world, but they consistently executed flawless performances in the Webb Ellis Cup.

Jones, who is now in charge of Japan, claims that England’s sacking of him came at the same time as a “no man’s land” between a group of well-experienced older players who had begun to fade and a younger generation who had yet to develop enough to take their place.

We basically stayed the same team at the 2019 World Cup, according to Jones, “the team I inherited from the 2015 World Cup.”

Some of those players are starting to quit by the year 2023. They are still excellent players, but they aren’t quite there.

Jones thinks Steve Borthwick, who led England to victory in seven of their previous seven Tests and placed third overall in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, is successfully navigating the transition.

Steve inherited that situation and did a fantastic job organizing the 2023 World Cup, Jones said.

He effectively coached that squad and made the most of it. And he’s now assembling a different team.

Jones was taken aback by England’s two summer Test victories over Argentina.

He’s starting to develop a really effective style, Jones said. They played some excellent rugby against Argentina; they were both very patient, efficient, tough, and determined, which was all Steve had in common.

During the Australian’s most successful spell with England, Borthwick served as Jones’ forward coach, and the pair also assisted Japan in the world championship’s historic victory over South Africa in 2015.

The most significant legacy of his 30-year coaching career, according to Jones, was the 34-32 victory over the Springboks.

What is the rating? It’s the most crucial win, according to Jones, “probably in terms of the implications of that win.”

The 2019 World Cup was the catalyst for the event that Japan hosted, for the first time ever and the only time, reached the quarter-finals.

“That’s a fairly uncommon accomplishment for a nation outside the big eight,” the author said.

Japan was a little more difficult to compete at the 2023 World Cup, but it has allowed them to compete at the highest level and be in the top tier of the world.

We play Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Wales, and Georgia on our end-of-season tour, just like this year.

When I visited Japan in 2012, we met Romania and Georgia and engaged in a pick-up matchup with the French Barbarians.

“So it gives the players the chance to compete with the best players in the world, and it also benefits Japan overall from that game in 2015,” he said.

After leading Australia’s rugby world cup pool stage exit in 2023, Jones is now in charge of Japan.

His side take on South Africa once more on British soil on Saturday, ten years after that shock at Brighton.

In the match, Jones will take on South African coach Erasmus, whose openness and innovation are similar.

In 2007, I took over Rassie as a technical adviser, and I inherited his computer, which contained the most complex tactical information about the teams we were about to play, according to Jones.

He has always been a very analytical player about rugby and has always been on the lookout for ways to make the most of the rules.