A blast from English rugby’s recent past will rock up at Twickenham on Sunday looking to plunge the national team into a crisis.
Imagine Eddie Jones’ delight if that was to happen, especially given the bad PR he’s had in England of late.
Jones — rugby’s most charismatic, in-your-face coach — brings Japan to the 82,000-seat stadium southwest of London seeking to create some history by leading the Brave Blossoms to a first ever win over England.
For England fans who have seen their team lose five matches on the trot, it’s an unthinkable scenario that Japan can make it No. 6 — a streak of defeats the English haven’t experienced since 2006.
If it does happen, coach Steve Borthwick might be in an untenable position, two years after succeeding Jones.
‘Dictatorship’
Indeed, Jones isn’t short of motivation this weekend.
His name is mud for some in the English game in the wake of the release of former England scrumhalf Danny Care’s autobiography, “Everything Happens for a Reason,” in which he wrote that the England camp under Jones was “like living in a dictatorship, under a despot who disappeared people.”
“Remember what it felt like when someone was being bullied at school and you were just glad it wasn’t you?” wrote Care, who is retired from international rugby. “That was the vibe.”
Others used the opportunity to jump on Jones, including former England flyhalf Danny Cipriani, who said Jones was “not somebody that I’d want to lead my country, because of the way he carries himself.”
Jones coached England from 2015-22, leading the team to three Six Nations titles, a Rugby World Cup final in 2019 and 17 straight wins early in his reign, only for his tenure to peter out amid increasing questions over his coaching style. Care acknowledged Jones gave him “some of the greatest memories of my rugby career” but that it “came at a price.”
The Rugby Football Union responded to Care’s comments by saying no complaints were made about Jones by players, either to the governing body or via its confidential whistleblowing service. Current England captain Jamie George accepted Jones’ tenure was “challenging” for players but said the Australian “did brilliant things for English rugby.”
‘Mental’ issues
How Borthwick would take some of the wins England managed against the southern hemisphere powers in the Jones era.
England lost back-to-back tests against New Zealand in July and three straight November tests, to the All Blacks, Australia and South Africa. None of them have been hammerings — the combined margin of defeat this month is 16 points and all three entertaining matches have given the crowd at Twickenham plenty of value for money — but England is making the same mistakes every time, and showing fallibility when in winning positions late in games.
Backup England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie attributed it to “mental” issues but feels the team is going in the right direction under Borthwick.
Still, lose to Japan ahead of a Six Nations campaign that starts for England in February with games against the two top title contenders, Ireland away and France at home, and Borthwick will be in desperate trouble.
Japan comes into the match on the back of a 36-20 win over Uruguay on Saturday, but was overwhelmed 52-12 by France the week before and lost to England 52-17 in Tokyo in June.
The teams met in last year’s World Cup, with England winning 34-12.
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