Mako Vunipola has singled out the best coach he has ever worked with
Mako Vunipola is delighted that Eddie Jones will lead England to the next World Cup and believes the Australian is the best coach he has worked with. The prop has been a key figure under Jones, helping England to reach the World Cup final last year.
Jones, who took over as head coach in 2015, signed a new deal earlier this month which will keep him in the role until the end of the next World Cup in 2023. Vunipola believes Jones allows his players to play their natural game and that he is the perfect man to lead the side forward.
“It is great for us players, to have that understanding at the helm for the next three years now,” Vunipola told talkSPORT. “He is one of the best coaches I have worked with if not the best, he gives us players the confidence to go out there and play our game.
“You need the belief of the head coach, for us we just have to go out there and he makes it easy for us wanting to play for him.”
England’s charge to the final in Japan featured a battling quarter-final victory over Australia before a stunning win over back-to-back defending champions New Zealand in the semi-final. But Jones’ side could not repeat their heroics in the final, where they were well beaten by South Africa.
“I look on it as a journey, it was an amazing journey for us,” Vunipola added. “Before the World Cup we knew that we had a chance but it was pretty much all in camp and to get to the final was a massive achievement.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t ideal in the final but we were beaten by the better team. You have to look at the whole six months from where we started and where we ended up and be proud to be honest.”
- Press Association
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You forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time.
Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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