Eddie v Clive: best of enemies

Eddie Jones says he ‘‘feels sad’’ for his staunchest critic, Sir Clive Woodward, as he fights to keep his job as England head coach.

Jones is under review by the RFU after a woeful year of results in which his side has won five tests in 12. The governing body gave itself two weeks to back or sack the 62-year-old Australian after the 27-13 defeat by South Africa and has convened its anonymous panel to make a final decision.

There is a growing feeling that Jones is on thin ice, with RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney saying last Sunday that he was ‘‘really disappointed’’ with England performances this autumn.

The RFU will have to pay more than £1 million (NZ$1.9 million) to oust Jones and his coaching team, settling his £750,000 (NZ$1.4 million)-a-year deal plus the salaries of his assistants.

That number will balloon if they move quickly to hire a top new coach such as Warren Gatland, stealing him away from Wales, who are in pursuit of their former coach to replace Wayne Pivac.

Woodward, England’s World Cup-winning coach from 2003, has consistently criticised Jones in his column for The Daily Mail. This week he wrote that Jones should be sacked if England lose to Scotland in their next match, which begins the 2023 Six Nations.

Jones, however, remains convinced that he is the man to lead England to the World Cup next year despite a poor 2022, and rounded on Woodward.

‘‘I feel sad for him,’’ he said, speaking to Men’s Health magazine. ‘‘If that is the best thing he has to do in his life, then he hasn’t a lot to do.’’

Jones said that when he leaves the England job after the World Cup he will not speak out about other coaches.

‘‘I’m going to make sure that I don’t,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s another way. You don’t need to do it. Rod Macqueen, Steve Hansen – great coaches. They just get on with the rest of their lives. When you’ve had your turn, you give it to someone else.’’ Asked how he copes with public pressure, Jones said: ‘‘I push it to one side. You have to be in the game to understand this because coaching changes so much.

‘‘There are extremes, and you have to keep a moderated view. Life is a continuum with best to worst at the extremes, and you’ve just got to keep bubbling on.’’

Jones was speaking to Men’s Health ‘‘Talking Heads’’ columnist Alastair Campbell, the former

Labour Party communications guru, a few weeks ago for an article that has now been published on the magazine’s website. In it Jones explains why he thinks England are in good shape for the World Cup.

‘‘I’m 62 now and I think in pure coaching terms I am coaching better than I ever have,’’ he said. ‘‘Results aren’t always perfect, but I’m happy with how I have been coaching.

‘‘If this was the Cheltenham Gold Cup, there’s a pack of four out front – France, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand – and we are fifth, right behind them, right on the rails.

‘‘A good position, provided we keep improving. Australia are there or thereabouts with us. It’s going to be the closest World Cup ever. France and Ireland are the in-form teams right now, but things will change.’’

Jones also confirmed he will not be looking to stay with England after 2023, if he makes it that far. He has been linked to a director of rugby role with Australia, where he coached in the 2000s, and to a coaching role with the United States up to their home World Cup in 2031.

‘‘I only came for four years,’’ he said. ‘‘Then we lost the World Cup final in 2019 – I felt I could still contribute, so did the RFU, so we agreed another four years. I knew it would be difficult because we would have to change the team.

‘‘I’ve enjoyed it, it’s a great position, but eight years with the same country, that’s enough.

‘‘I’ve enjoyed England a lot, it was a bit of a rescue job at the start, now rebuilding, and I am confident I will leave things in good shape.’’

–

‘‘If that is the best thing he has to do in his life, then he hasn’t a lot to do.’’

Eddie Jones on the constant criticism he gets from Sir Clive Woodward, above