WRW MONDAY: MORE PROGRESS
Welcome to another week and the first Monday edition of WRW
SO DID YOU SWITCH OFF AFTER 15 MINS??
…because if you did, you missed what very nearly became the ultimate reason why red cards don't kill games.
It’s still up there with one of the maddest games I've ever seen but had Freddie Steward gone on to score from Jonny McPhillips' cross-field kick, can you imagine the closing stages?
What did we learn?
1. Further confirmation about this team’s depth and character. Exeter were bound to come out humming after escaping by the skin of their teeth 7 days earlier. They duly did before the Van Wyk red card, but at 28-0 down, Leicester's resolve added 31 points of their own.
There was clear belief in the system. What wasn't going right was more aimless kicking and while Henry was not solely to blame, the greater precision from McPhillips helped Leicester enormously after his introduction.
2. This Leicester team can score tries. Whether it's jinking for the line from scrum-half, the forwards crashing over at maul time (without their two first-choice hookers) or from open play, Tigers marginally opened up their game in the hunt for a bonus point and it worked.
You'd certainly want to see Kelly and Scott partner again in midfield, especially if Moroni wasn't fit. With only two bonus points before Saturday, that has to be a positive.
I'm not sure Quins will be caught now after their cruise against Gloucester, but defeats for Irish and Saints on Sunday leave Sale 9 points away. Bear two things in mind
Sale play the other three playoff teams in the last four rounds, admittedly with two of them at home
Following the European break, Tigers will play back-to-back games against four of the five teams above them in the table.
ENGLAND’S INQUEST BEGINS
England have dipped before under Eddie Jones, most notably in 2018. But this feels different, with defeats against Wales, Scotland and Ireland in the same Championship for the first time since the 1970s.
The quote to follow from his post-game interview.is towards the end - “We are in the process of changing the team.” Well, you could have fooled me.
If they are changing the team, the most lethargic of sloths would complain it was far too slow even for them. Ill-discipline remains at the core and arguably, England weren't punished enough.
Jones clearly banked his whole strategy on getting half a dozen or more players with barely any rugby through the first two games at home. Even if it had worked - and it was scandalously disrespectful of Scotland who appeared to pick up some form - performances against Wales and Ireland hardly speak of a squad growing with confidence, or of one and the same mind.
Then, the inability or unwillingness to give others a shot in two games when the Championship was done, smacks of more arrogance. Yes, caps have to be earned but what did England have to lose with giving Odogwu a game? That might be fine when you’re getting results, but if you’re in stodgy form, there’s no hiding place.
Given such a sharp contrast to the win over France, is there a split in the camp? Are all the England players united behind him? I have no knowledge either way, but you can only wonder.
IF NOT EDDIE, WHO?
Let’s set this straight away. I don’t think the RFU are going to pull the trigger for reasons I’ll get into, however the mood music appears to be becoming restive, with the Telegraph saying they are quite prepared to use a break clause in Eddie Jones' contract. This is also reported elsewhere.
Jones, it appears, was happy to leave Australia in 2005 because he didn’t trust the management above him. The old ARU were increasingly concerned that Jones wasn’t accountable to them. Similar noises are being heard from Twickenham now.
While the Australian will take a dim view of leaks like this, would this combative, highly competitive individual really want to leave what is likely to be his last big international coaching gig at the age of 61?
But, just suppose that the powers-that-be decided a parting of the ways was required. Where would they go?
Options, options…
Should the bullet be fired shortly, the RFU are in a good position. With England due to tour North America in the summer, it seems logical that an interim appointment could be made in plenty of time, if the right man is found. With fewer than expected England players likely to be with the Lions, that might be quite appealling.
While the pandemic has hit everyone, the RFU’s deep pockets and could go anywhere. These would be my three requirements, if there's a vacancy (which there isn't.):
1. Be competitive every year in the Six Nations and the latter stages of the World Cup. With the size of the player base and budget, that is not an arrogant concept to suggest.
2. Rugby is not as popular or nearly as outward-looking as it thinks it is, especially in England. The England Head Coach needs to be a salesman for the game, without self-interest.
That is both in the game his team produces - we all know the players are there to spread the ball wide - but also in the way he presents the game in his comments and actions.
3. He needs to be a negotiator too. There needs to continue to be a two-way relationship with the clubs. He occasionally needs flexibility as an international coach, but must reassure them their players are not being flogged or broken, eg Sam Jones through to Harry Randall.
Who?
Within the Premiership, there are fewer candidates than you might think. Rob Baxter seems so happy in Exeter, that more refusals to consider England are surely inevitable. (His excellent communications man Mark Stevens should be even higher on the RFU recruitment list.) Mark McCall might be as tough to shift and would Stephen Lansdown make Pat Lam an offer to stay at Bristol impossible to refuse?
With the turnover recently in young English coaches, it's just too early for Messrs Blackett, Skivington, Hooper and yes, Borthwick. But should Leicester continue on their current trajectory and Jones stay in post, Borthwick would be my leading English candidate after the 2023 World Cup.
Doubtless Stuart Lancaster and Warren Gatland would be mentioned again, as will Jake White, but there are two others coming out of contract who would interest me - even if they have no international coaching experience:
RICHARD COCKERILL
With the right team around him, Cockerill knows how to build a championship-winning side as we know. He sorts out bad attitude quickly as he did at Edinburgh and has coached in France as well.
Clermont Auvergne were rumoured to be knocking on his door earlier this year so is now the time for England to come calling? Would he fit in at the RFU, with no international coaching experience and would he be as abrasive as Jones? (He gets grumpy with questions but there is less of the calculated nastiness of the Australian.)
An outsider for the job I would say..but there aren’t many other experienced English coaches around and if that becomes a stipulation, his currency rises.
SCOTT ROBERTSON
Even without international experience, it would be considered a coup to bring the Crusaders coach over - and it would wind up New Zealand intensely.
Bear in mind, the man who beat Robertson to the All Blacks job is in the second year of his two year contract. Ian Foster will need to have a good start to the Southern Hemisphere summer. Robertson is on a similar deal.
The man appears desperate to get out of New Zealand having missed out on the All Blacks job. Linked with more jobs than Jake White, he has won more titles though.
Who wouldn't want him? 4 Super Rugby titles in 4 years..Crusaders being Crusaders. But this is England…would he really want the job? And would it really denuy him the New Zealand job for ever?
QUICK HITS FROM THE WEEKEND
1. Why are England U20…*checks notes* trying to play in secret?
Falcons beat an England team early in its development. Kit Smith and Tom Manz on bench for England.
2. How good is this try?
3. For the uninitiated, this is shoulder to the head with no mitigation. No debate.
4. And if only you were allowed to kick with your heel…?
(In fact, why do the laws say you can't?? Help me out..)
RUNNING FROM DEEP
1. Mostly England-related today.. you'll not do much better than Rob Kitson's Guardian review of all four Home Nations’ efforts. Kit-Kat is the most mild-mannered, polite of men, eternally ready with a smile.
But he is savage about Jones which I can't help agree with;
The thing about Jones is that he is never wrong: even the unfunny jibes about spreading “rat poison” aimed at the press last week reflected a coach whose judgment, selections, tactics and outlook seem increasingly perverse to anyone except himself. To Jones it is all about control – and when his teams lack it they look similarly ineffectual. The Covid-19 lockdown period has tested everybody’s morale, Jones’s included, but it has also exposed some uncomfortable home truths.
2. Kitson is under some competition, mind you. Stuart Barnes openly called for Jones to go in the Sunday Times yesterday and duly refilled both barrels for Monday's version too (£):
The players love their coach. As many of the same players did Stuart Lancaster, Jones’s predecessor. As soon as he left there was criticism. Billy Vunipola thought he should have let them have a few beers before the World Cup. We did not read that until the coach had lost his job.
Be sure, if and when Jones leaves his post, there will be plenty of players prepared to tell their tales. In an unhinged rugby dictatorship, it takes a brave man to speak out. England — just watch the difference between how they play and how they speak — are, at their core, a comfortable clique. Outsiders have to work hard to break through, insiders have to be abject to lose their place. It works for Jones. Not for England.
Enough is enough. Nothing comes from nothing. And England are travelling nowhere. The cost of keeping Jones is too great a burden.
3. And here's the Irish perspective from the Irish Times (Trust me they've relished doing a digest of the English media..)
It is always about which Eddie Jones is going to show up. After his side’s defeat, would it be Jones the humble, Jones the gracious, Jones the enigmatic? Not quite any.
It was Jones the ‘I won’t say a bad word about this England team and the bare minimum about the Irish team’. Far from humble, a little terse, but in no way Jones the graceless either.
AND FINALLY..
THINGS YOU MAY NEVER UNSEE AGAIN
Apologies…no survey this edition. Will have that for you for Wednesday….as I'm about to have my jab!
Have a great week.
Chris
I think Jones should go personally... but I’m not sure who would/should replace him. Would love to see Baxter get a go but not sure he would take it. Cockers... get the feeling he is to the RFU what Cloughie was to the FA. (Surely he will stay on in Braw) Delano I think would be great but I fear ‘Bloodgate’ has done for him in the top job.
But one of the reasons for me he should go now is, apart from the ridiculous quote of “we finished (6n) better than we started”.. plus his dubious selection processes, his treatment of players as cattle in essence is that I agree with you Chris. 2 years time I fear our Phoenix like resurgence under ‘The Dark Lord’ may come slightly derailed by Borths going to HQ.
Another cracking edition btw fella.
Never switch off a Tigers game after 15 mins... :-) Seriously though, it's been great to watch the boys come out fighting this season and play some exciting rugby in the mix too.