Eddie Jones axed by RFU following Autumn Nations Series review
Eddie Jones has been dismissed from his duties as England head coach following a review panel's findings
©INPHO/Billy Stickland
Following England’s first losing calendar year since 2008, the RFU have sacked England head coach Eddie Jones with assistant coach Richard Cockerill taking over in the interim.
The announcement came after England’s disappointing Autumn Nations Series campaign where Jones’ team lost to South Africa and Argentina, as well as drawing with the All Blacks and beating Japan.
This followed a Guinness Six Nations campaign in which the Australian’s side slumped to a third-place finish, although a Test series win against Australia in the summer came as light relief.
England players were booed off the field following their dismal 13-27 loss to the Springboks at Twickenham Stadium, in the days that followed the RFU announced that their review panel would inspect the team’s performance, Jones’ message that he had a ‘plan to win the World Cup’.
His reasoning for those statements is apparent when you look at the statistics. After seven years in charge, Jones had presided over 81 Tests, won 59, lost on 20 occasions and drawn twice.
In and amongst that, the Australian picked up three Six Nations titles and took the nation to a Rugby World Cup Final in 2019. While on the face of it, Jones had all the capability to help England lift the Webb Ellis for a second time, the events of this past fortnight have displayed that poor results on the field only display half of the story.
For much of the past week or so, it has been a war of words. Jones’ media advisor David Pembroke commented under an article by The Times, labelling the RFU’s CEO Bill Sweeney as ‘slippery Bill’.
This came after reporting by The Telegraph in which they highlighted the departure of team doctor, Dr. Richard Tingay, Pembroke’s comments suggesting that it was Sweeney who had told reporters of the doctor’s apology.
It was in many ways an unprecedented act by the man Jones credits as cultivating his media strategy and a clear show of a breakdown in relationship between the two parties. Pembroke did apologise for his comments, but it all seemed to be too little too late.
Further stories about life in England camp came to the fore too, former England scrum-half Joe Simpson having described teammates as coming back as “shadows of their former selves” from England duty.
Surviving previous review panels, it quickly became apparent that there was little room for Jones to manoeuvre himself out of harm on this occasion and yesterday afternoon reports began to emerge that the 62-year-old had indeed been sacked.
“It is important to recognise the huge contribution Eddie has made to English rugby, winning three Six Nations Championships, one Grand Slam and taking us to a Rugby World Cup final,” Bill Sweeney said in the RFU’s statement.
“He has the highest win ratio of any previous England head coach and has helped develop the leadership skills of many players and coaches.
“I am grateful to Eddie for all he has done for England across many areas of the game and the professional way in which he has approached reviewing the performance of the team.
“He has provided the panel with astute insight and meaningful lessons that will support the team performance going forward.”
Reaction from Joe Harvey
Last week in my column, I expressed that it was probably Eddie Jones’ time to move on. Storm clouds had been circling the Australian from the moment that the boos rained down from the stands at Twickenham following England’s 13-27 loss to South Africa.
It’s a statement that stands the test of time, the days that followed seeing the growing distrust between Jones’ camp and his employers, while past England internationals were more than happy to speak up about an unhappy environment when the squad was together; that road duly leading us here.
Within 24 hours of defeat to the Springboks, the RFU announced that their review panel would examine the goings on in the England camp across the Autumn Nations Series campaign.
Earlier this year following a disappointing Six Nations, the governing body had backed Jones entirely, saying “Eddie Jones is building a new England team and against a clear strategy we are encouraged by the solid progress the team has made”.
With 10 months until the Rugby World Cup in France, it is certainly a bold move from the RFU. Nine games stand between England and their opener against Argentina in Marseille next September, and whether or not that’s enough time for whoever fills the breach is unclear.
Richard Cockerill has the head coach role on an interim basis, with Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick highly touted as the man to get the job on a full-time basis. A disciple of Jones, Borthwick followed the 62-year-old from coaching Japan to England, before going their separate ways.
Early this afternoon, Tigers postponed their media availability ahead of their visit to the Ospreys in the Heineken Champions Cup, their 43-year-old head coach’s future seemingly in the balance and The Telegraph reporting that the RFU have opened negotiations.
There has been a divide between commenters online, with the likes of Matt Giteau saying that sacking his former Wallabies coach would be the “silliest thing they could do”, while Maggie Alphonsi described Jones’ departure as “inevitable”.
Whatever the case may be, all of this is still very much unfolding before our eyes and what is next will seemingly be known sooner rather than later.
