Daily Express - Breaking news, sport and showbiz from the World's Greatest Newspaper
Newspaper Cover Page
Our Paper

Front and Back Pages, E-Edition and Back Issues...
Weather
 6°C
London
Horoscope
Saturday 22nd November 2008 Make us your HOME PAGE  What is RSS?
 

RUGBY UNION

JONES BACKING HIS OLD FOE WOODWARD

Story Image


Eddie Jones: Stupefied at remarks

Thursday August 28,2008

By Steve Bale

EDDIE JONES has never been able to resist a sharp dig at English rugby and complaints from the top about the England ‘legacy’ left by Sir Clive Woodward has given him another easy target.

When Jones was coach of Australia, he and Woodward were for ever quarrelling. Now they are best buddies and, having recently arrived back in England to coach Saracens, he cannot understand what Rob Andrew is getting at.

RFU elite-rugby director Andrew’s remark that the 2003 World Cup-winning coach “left no legacy to the English game, when the edifice fell over there was nothing behind it”, left Jones stupefied.

“Unbelievable,” he said when the Guinness Premiership was launched in London yesterday. “Clive Woodward ran the best rugby programme in the world for five years.

“England played some of the most sublime rugby in 2002 and just got over the line in 2003. But they did get over the line and were world champions and it was acknowledged round the world that, at that time, England ran the best rugby programme. No one has run as good a programme since and to say it’s the fault of that England set-up is just absurd. I cannot understand it.” 

ì
Clive Woodward ran the best rugby programme in the world for five years
î

Eddie Jones


Andrew’s view has been coloured by the chaos that has engulfed the England team since Woodward resigned in 2004. Both subsequent coaches, Andy Robinson and Brian Ashton, were sacked, with Andrew turning to Woodward’s captain Martin Johnson as England’s new man.

Jones blames Andrew – or at least his department – for the shortcomings that have become evident since the 2003 final.

“He is in a position where he has got to fix things, so it’s always nice to find the person before,” said Jones. “As a national coach, you have a job making the side win. You don’t get paid to put infrastructure in place. But if you want to be a director of rugby, then your job is to do exactly that.”
SEARCH RUGBY UNION for:


In other words, Andrew should blame either himself or his less-powerful predecessor, performance director Chris Spice, rather than Woodward, whom Andrew did not mention by name though the implication was clear.

Jones’s complaint was specific and general, making it all the more forceful. His examination of Saracens going into the season showed even the best of their up-and-comers to be woefully short of game-time. 

Outside the Premiership there is nowhere for such promising individuals to play, other than by going on loan to National Division One clubs – itself a growing trend.

Evidently he considers that if Andrew wanted to prove his worth and leave his own ‘legacy’, he would do something about what Jones already sees as a serious problem.

England may have a golden generation of young players coming through, but this does not include many tight forwards. Tight-head prop is a barren position once you get past Phil Vickery, Matthew Stevens and, possibly, Jason Hobson.

“There are massive gaps in English rugby,” said Jones. “The young players in England just don’t play enough rugby.

We need to have a second tier under the Premiership where the best young players in England play consistently.

“At Saracens we have a young guy, Tom Mercey, England Under-20 tight-head prop, who has probably started 10 games in the last two years. He needs to be playing 25 games a year for him to move forward.

“You just have to look at English tight heads. There is a massive gap between the senior tight heads and junior tight heads coming through and those guys need to be playing. That’s the responsibility of the elite-development programme.”

Danny Cipriani, meanwhile, could return from his horrific ankle injury in November.


Share...

• Got A Story? Get in touch online
• Email the news desk directly here!


Print This Article
Email To A Friend
Contact Us About Article
Get RSS
MORE RUGBY UNION

New Ospreys deal for Bishop

Ospreys centre Andrew Bishop has signed a new four-year contract with the Welsh ...

• Read More Comment Speech Bubble Have Your Say(0)
HOROSCOPES
TV GUIDE

Todays best TV right here for you at the Express. • See Guide

TODAY'S CARTOON

The Political Cartoonist of the Year