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James Haskell slams 'utter madness' of Eddie Jones axing

Eddie Jones head coach of England and James Haskell of England ins discussion during the England Captain's Run on the eve of the RBS 6 Nations match against Scotland at Twickenham Stadium on March 10, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Former England flanker James Haskell has described the Rugby Football Union’s decision to sack head coach Eddie Jones nine months out from the Rugby World Cup as “utter madness”.

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Speaking to Sky Sports in the wake of Jones’ dismissal, the 77-cap ex England loose forward pointed the finger at “some grumpy old journalists and some miserable fans” who ganged up to oust his former coach.

Haskell played the best rugby of his career under Jones’ tutelage between 2016 and 2018, and described the Australian as “by far and away the best coach I’ve ever worked with,” while also highlighting his impressive record at World Cups.

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“Personally, it’s utter madness,” the former Wasps and Northampton Saints flanker said. “You have literally taken the most successful World Cup coach, with a 90 percent winning record, and binned him nine months before a World Cup. He’s been to three World Cup finals. He’s won one and lost two. And he took Japan to some of the biggest upsets they’ve ever had.

“And then the best thing is, the person they want to replace him with at this point in time is not available, so you’re going to put someone else in charge for the Six Nations who hasn’t been an international coach just because of some grumpy old journalists and some miserable fans who’ve decided to gang up to get rid of him, which is pretty much the story of the modern world. If you shout loud enough and you’ve got enough fans in the media, you can achieve anything.”

“A lot of times, if you upset people and don’t conform, and Eddie Jones doesn’t conform- does he get everything right? No, I don’t think anybody gets everything right.

“Unfortunately, I think that because Eddie didn’t conform, didn’t play to the media’s tune, there were some guys that just didn’t want him in there.

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“Look, the Six Nations was disappointing, the autumn internationals were disappointing, but not to the degree where there were such catastrophic errors. What some of these older heads are doing and some of these older journalists who don’t like Eddie, who don’t actually come down and watch training, they don’t speak to any of the current players, they’re not particularly popular with current players because of their opinions because they’re there to sell newspapers. Then you’ve got ex coaches who have agendas and vendettas who are able to use their media platform to put things out there. It’s not based on fact, it’s rhetoric, it’s nonsense. You talk about the players not being confident, you talk about the players losing their shine, you talk about players coming in and out squad. Eddie’s there to put the best players on the field and I had five international coaches with England, and they were some of the worst environments I’ve ever been part of.

“Eddie Jones is by far and away the best coach I’ve ever worked with. He understood how to get the best out of the players, create a competitive environment, create a professional environment, and some of these journalists, when they recommend coaches to take over, the people they’re suggesting are not in the same league as Eddie Jones.”

Jones’ former assistant coach with England and Japan, Steve Borthwick, has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Jones having guided Leicester Tigers to Gallagher Premiership glory earlier this year. Having played alongside him, and worked under him after becoming a coach, Haskell was hugely complimentary of Borthwick.

“If the person taking over is Steve Borthwick, I think he’s utterly brilliant,” he said. “If anybody could take over from Eddie Jones, I can’t think of a better person. He’s the number one person that I would have suggested. I didn’t think a million years they’d ever get him because of what a good job he’s doing with [Leicester] Tigers. If they get Kevin Sinfield as well, then England are in a good place and it’s a nice transition.”

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R
RedWarrior 19 minutes ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

IF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.


As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.


Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).

This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.

If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.

Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.

After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.

Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.


Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)

Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.

Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.


Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.


Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:


Seeding Band 1

IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG

Seeding Band 2

SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: FIJI

1/8 final opponent GEORGIA

Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA

1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND

Prognosis: You know the prognosis


I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?


Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.

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G
GS 1 hour ago
Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

The key is realising this AB side is not what they are now but what they will be in 2025/26.


You can already see a Power bench forming, and I would highlight that people watch the AB XV game vs Munster and watch Fabian Holland - he, in the next 24 months, will be WC and bring some huge physicality to the team.


Then, aligned with Peter Lakai, probably at 7, another WC talent, the AB pack by 2026 will probably both be starting and on the bench - be rated as No 1 or 2 packs in the world.


Then, there is the usual WC talent around the backline, and the missing link is Mo'unga. Unlike in last year's WC, the coming forward pack for the ABs, is similar to the Bok pack, It will be packed full of power, and the key to this is a realitively young pack.


So I think we will lose to Ireland and France in the coming weeks, but watch out as this pack builds into - I mean, look at the tight five and loose forwards that are coming for the ABs - De Groot, Lomax, Williams, Tosi, Taylor, Ofa T, Samson T, Aumua, Patrick T, Barrett, Vai, Fabian H, Setiti, Lakai, Savea, Frizzell (understand they are attempting to get him and Mo'unga back), Blackadder, Papalii and bar Barrett, Savea, Patrick T, Taylor - pretty young in international terms.


Huge front row starting and on bench, Power locks and usual class in loose forwards - only missing ingredient is a WC 10 and with Mo'unga back probably in 2026, these ABs are trending in a very healthy direction.

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