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Clive Woodward thunders into Eddie Jones debate ignited by Danny Care

Eddie Jones addresses his England players in 2022 in Jersey (Photo by Alex Davidson/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Former England coach Clive Woodward has unloaded on the RFU following Danny Care’s weekend revelations about the way Eddie Jones allegedly ran the team during his time in charge. The Australian was appointed successor to Stuart Lancaster following the 2015 Rugby World Cup pool stage elimination.

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He enjoyed Six Nations title success during his initial two years in charge but the rumbustious way he ran his operation through to the winter of 2022 apparently left much to be desired, according to Care who was dropped in 2018 and had to wait four years for a recall.

The veteran Harlequins scrum-half retired from Test rugby following England’s third-place finish in the 2024 Guinness Six Nations and an extract from his new book, Everything Happens for a Reason: My Life in Rugby, was published last Saturday by The Times in London.

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Nick Mallett explains why he once turned down an offer to coach England | RPTV

Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett on turning down the England coaching job, before Eddie Jones got it. Watch the full episode on RugbyPass TV

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Nick Mallett explains why he once turned down an offer to coach England | RPTV

Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett on turning down the England coaching job, before Eddie Jones got it. Watch the full episode on RugbyPass TV

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The Ebury Spotlight publication, which officially launches on November 7, detailed how the current Japan boss, who is due to bring his team to London on November 24 to face Steve Borthwick’s England, ruled with an iron fist, leaving English players “desperate not to get dropped for all the wrong reasons, which made for a toxic environment”.

Care went on to reveal in the extract a myriad of examples of Jones’ behaviour and Woodward has now joined the debate in his latest Daily Mail column.

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“It seems quite clear to me that the Jones era got out of hand, with players unable to say how they felt at the time and no senior figures at the RFU holding the head coach to account,” he claimed, believing he should have been fired after the 2019 Rugby World Cup final loss to South Africa in Yokohama.

“This reflects very, very poorly on those involved. Did the RFU know it was happening? Only they can answer that. But, knowing what we do now, it is astonishing English rugby’s bosses held a review into Jones’s coaching and decided to hand him a new contract.

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“The RFU, in the interests of transparency, really should name the people who were involved in that review and came to that conclusion. If one thing can be learned from Care’s honest revelations of the Jones era, it is that regular checks and balances must be made on the international set-up.

“To do so is only healthy. It holds the leaders of the organisation to account and ensures the highest possible standards are maintained. I would also urge the players of today to find a voice, however difficult it can be.”

Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 ticket application opens 5 November (22 October for Mastercard holders). Register your interest now.

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2 Comments
F
Flankly 1 mins ago

SCW really dislikes Eddie, doesn't he?


His words in 2019 before the RWC final that he now says should have resulted in Eddie's firing:


"Was Saturday’s sensational World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand England’s greatest ever performance? Yes, unquestionably, would be my answer."


So let's fire the coach one game later? Duh!

M
Mr Easy 1 hr ago

Woodward sticking his oar in 20 years after he was relevant isn't terribly shocking. What Care has to say is worth noting however.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
N
Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
N
Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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