Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Review panel questioned what we were doing, they wanted answers'

By PA
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Eddie Jones will make dispelling his team’s Guinness Six Nations hangover one of his priorities when his England training squad gather to begin preparations for the summer. London Irish’s 19-year-old sensation Henry Arundell is among ten uncapped players chosen in a 36-man squad who will meet in the capital for a three-day camp beginning on Sunday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi have also been included after missing the entire Six Nations because of respective ankle and hamstring injuries, although a number of other senior players have been rested on this occasion. England face the Barbarians on June 19 before embarking on a three-Test tour of Australia where they must rebuild after collapsing to record another dismal Championship.

Jones retains the backing of the Rugby Football Union and has emerged from the post-tournament review process confident that minor tweaks will restore fortunes – once the recent setback has been addressed.

Video Spacer

The Breakdown | Episode 13 | Sky Sport NZ

Video Spacer

The Breakdown | Episode 13 | Sky Sport NZ

“You always carry the disappointment of your last game. Whether it’s the last of the season or a tournament, you carry it and so you need to chat about it,” said Jones, speaking for the first time since the review was conducted.

“You need to make sure you are looking ahead to what is going to be important. Disappointment can be a highly motivating factor. It can also be a hindrance. So it’s the way you use it. When you don’t win it’s normal to be criticised and to be under fire a little bit. I find that a normal part of coaching. I don’t think you ever get used to it, to losing. It’s not a pleasant experience. My responsibility is to win.

Related

“But you take the positives out of the situation you have and you look ahead and see what you can do in the future, which is what we have been doing. The review was fantastic. The review panel questioned what we were doing, they wanted answers because we didn’t perform at the standard we wanted to. That makes you reflective and sometimes it might open up a point that you didn’t give enough attention to.

“That reflection process is important and having independent people is useful. I have got a pretty good understanding of what we are trying to do, who we are going to have in the team and how we want to play. We have got to make it happen.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Another task facing Jones is to assess the potential of Arundell, the England U20s full-back who has been on his radar for eight months. His debut season as a professional has already produced plenty of material for highlights reels, but his length-of-the-field try against Toulon earlier this month has propelled his reputation to a new level.

Jones sees a similarity to Australian great Matt Giteau but is cautious about making any bold predictions before he has seen him up close. “Henry has got exceptional pace. He probably reminds me a lot of Matt Giteau in terms of his desire to attack. Not the way he plays, but his desire to attack,” Jones said.

“There could be something good about him but we don’t know what his desire is, we don’t know what his work ethic is like, we don’t know what his mental resilience is like. The test of a young player to become a good Test player is their ability to work hard, their ability to take knocks, their ability to keep resilient physically and mentally and to have that mindset to keep improving.

“From what I know of him and I have met him once very briefly, he has got good attributes. But we will only see that on the three days of training we have.”

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

KOKO Show | July 8th | Bernard Foley stops by to talk the Wallabies winning and Lions being tested

England v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Georgia vs Ireland | Men’s International | Full Match Replay

Lions Share | Episode 2

Chile vs Romania | Men’s International | Full Match Replay

USA vs Belgium | Men’s International | Full Match Replay

Touchdown in Dublin, The Red Sea Returns & We Prepare to Face Argentina | Ep 2: The Ultimate Test

South Africa v British & Irish Lions | 2009 | Second Test | The Vaults

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

t
takata 2 hours ago
Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

Please, tell me who exactly are all those millionaires owning the Top 14?


And, by the way, can you tell me who are also those that ever transformed a single French club into their cash cow?


It’s probably an old cliché comming from, some time ago in early pro time, the revival of both Ile-de-France clubs by private investors like J. Lorenzetti at Racing 92, or the rise of Toulon’s “Gallacticos” under Mourad Boudjellal, ending with the very noisy late Altrad investments into Montpellier-Hérault. Even if a few major titles were collected by those clubs, and that it would indeniably have helped to rise the fame of the whole Top 14, the global return on private investments simply didn’t ever pay back what they put in.


Another look into the last decade will show you that French clubs are not millionaires pet-projects either. From this season top 6, amongst Stade Toulousain (1st), Union Bordeaux-Bègles (2nd), Rugby Club Toulonnais (3rd), l’Aviron Bayonnais (4th), Clermont-Auvergne (5th) and Castres Olympique (6th), only the last two are backed by historical corporate entities: Michelin (tires) for Clermont and Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (pharma) for Castres.


That’s long term sponsorship from those city main industries and, with Stade Toulousain since 1907, Clermont and Castres (one of the lowest budget in Top 14), are also the oldest members of the French rugby club elite. This certainly prove some healthy stability in their management. They are in fact as far away from marketing “products” that they are from Paris.


But in Top 14, as reflected by their national team selection, club power is certainly measured by their success. The most successful of them all, Stade Toulousain, reached a 2023-2024 budget comparable with the lower end of a French elite football club (those not named PSG) and half of it’s income (€30 millions) was comming from merchandising sales only. Last monday, UBB sold out, in a matter of few hours, its 20K season ticket (out of their 32K seats stadium) and La Rochelle’s stadium was also sold out faster than I can type it for every single game of last season; and so on.


Now, take only those three clubs providing 90% of the national team and paying 100% of their wages. Tell them that the share of the limited game time allowed to their top players, will rise from 25% to 40% for the national team, without any further compensation for the club than allowing them to spend more in recruitment (of probably lesser quality substitutes).


See how it goes now with their board and Presidents, even if probably all of them are turning real profits.

301 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Rieko Ioane moved again as one debutant named for the All Blacks Rieko Ioane moved again for All Blacks
Search