Mind-sets & Performances - England Rugby

With over 20 years of coaching experience under his belt a little thing like a opening team announcement day in a new job doesn’t faze Eddie Jones in the slightest, instead he thrives on it. 

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On Wednesday afternoon England's new head coach was a professional at work; a straight-talker with a sense of humour that was enjoying explaining the rationale behind his selections. Eddie Jones will only share the information that he wants you to know and nothing more - he's been there and done it all before and it is very clear that he is in charge. 

So what do we now know about Eddie Jones' England that we didn't 48 hours ago? Well, the first thing that he did was to reiterate the fundamentals that his side will deliver. England Rugby under Eddie Jones will have a strong set-piece, a dominant scrum, a good line-out and then ‘the ability to move the ball’. In terms of the latter he wishes to develop the squad’s understanding of 'how and where to move the ball'. Eddie’s 33 is filled with play makers and ball players and it is very clear that in 2016 England will go after scoring points as opposed to simply trying to stop the opposition scoring. For that I must take this moment to pen a little ‘Hallelujah’ because it is exactly what the talent in this country dictates and it is how I believe that the game of rugby should be played. 

One extremely interesting area that Eddie spoke about was a driving ‘change of mind-set’ focused on certain players. He was open about the fact that currently his squad does not contain a strong enough spine of individuals that would walk into a World XV. Again don't mistake this admission to be disloyal, instead he was saying the unsaid, and it will motivate those coming into camp;

“I have no doubt that in this current squad of 33 there are four or five players who if they change their mind-set and they change their attitude, can become world class players. If we get four or five world class players - and I'm not going to name them - then we can be the dominant team in the world."

"That's what it takes. Why haven't England been dominant since 2003? Because they haven't had those players. If you go back to 2003 when I was coaching against Clive, you had Greenwood at centre, Wilkinson at 10, Dallaglio at eight, Hill at six, Johnson at five. They were guys who have changed games of rugby and England haven't had those players."

"Our job is to develop those players and if we do that the side will come through. There are enough good, hardworking players here, but to be a dominant team in the world you've got to be better than good and hard working. You have to want to do that bit extra, seek that extra bit of advice, you have to look at doing things differently. You've got to be desperate and hungry for success.”

How he goes about changing those mind-sets won’t be evident to us all on the outside however he did speak about creating an overarching environment in which the players are ‘absolutely fanatical about wanting to be in a winning England team’. His philosophy on England Rugby in 2016 is that the players are going to have to take full responsibility in order to become world leaders and that won't be easy;

“It's going to take more than what they have ever done in their lives to create a wining England team, that's the reality of it. Because otherwise it would have happened. Something has to change. It's the old definition of insanity. Someone expecting different people to do the same thing over and over again hoping to get different results. It doesn't happen. If we do the same as what we have done since 2003 then we will get the same results." 

If we then drill down into some specifics Eddie also provided an indication about certain players and certain areas. He shared that the openside flanker that he fields in this RBS 6 Nations Championship isn't likely to be his long-term solution there - James Haskell was hinted to be his preference with George Smith doing extra training at Wasps with the back-row forward. George Ford and Owen Farrell are likely to partner at 10 and 12 respectively and Eddie laid his cards on the table as to what he wants from this key area on the field;

"I’m clear in my mind what sort of player I want in each of those positions. I’ve tried to select in that way, but injury plays a part in that so we haven’t been able to select exactly in that way. I want a 12 who can take the ball through the line. A 12’s primary job is to straighten the attack; it was 30 years ago, it was 10 years ago and it still is now."

"They’ve got to make sure they straighten the attack by running straight, so sometimes they’ve got to take contact, other times they’ve got to pass and other times they’ve got to kick. That’s the sort of player we’re looking for. The 13 is like your backs version of a No 8 who can do a bit of everything; he can link, he can put the ball behind them and he’s a good communicator. We’ve got two guys with exceptional feet in Joseph and Daly, and they’re not bad readers of the game."

"The 10 has got to be the bus driver and the servant. He has to know which route to take and know what the team needs to have, and we’ve got two guys who can do that in George and Owen. We’re reasonably well set up."

Eddie Jones and his coaching team's work starts now, they have just 7 training sessions  before their side faces Scotland at the BT Murrayfield Stadium and they must be victorious. Time is against them however the squad is filled with exceptional talent and will be led by a man that knows exactly what he wants and how he is going to get it so we have every right to feel optimistic about England Rugby.