1
Eddie Jones brings back former captain to help England prepare for All Blacks
By Ben Spratt
England coach Eddie Jones has brought in former captain Will Carling as a leadership mentor in a bid to increase players' pride in their country.
Carling, 52, skippered England 59 times between 1988 and 1996, winning three Grand Slams, four Five Nations championships and reaching the 1991 Rugby World Cup final.
And Jones has revealed he has long been in communication with Carling, a "specialist in leadership", as he hopes to improve his squad ahead of next year's World Cup.
"I have met Will continuously over the last two years and I think he can add value to the senior players in the squad with his experience," Jones said.
"He joins the great past of England to the present. He's a bit of a specialist in leadership. He understands English rugby. He understands what made English rugby great.
"I'm not English - I can't preach to the players about having pride in England. I don't attempt to. I've long thought we have possibly had a gap in that area.
“Combining Will's skill of leadership with the knowledge of English history is a nice resource for us to have."
Jones does not believe this is a new concept either, referring to similar roles with several other international rivals, including New Zealand.
"I have seen it work well for the All Blacks, for Australia, Japan too," he said. "They all have someone from the past that keeps that connection in place.
"I think that's important and that is what Will will bring. This is not a coaching job. In a lot of ways, it has got to do specifically with English rugby.
"I want the past to be linked to the present and also then to give the players some additional help with leadership."
Jones will hope Carling's involvement doesn't link to the past too much, with the All Blacks winning 32 of the 40 clashes between the two sides.
In other news:
Trending on RugbyPass
2
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series
3
Scotland's Sione Tuipulotu admits anger at Australian rugby
4
Fissler Confidential: Willie le Roux rumours ignite after Bok star spo
5
Latest Comments
Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players I'd never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. I'm picking we'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
Go to comments