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'The best coach I've played under': Eddie Jones reappointment earns rave review from Kiwi-born star
England halfback Willi Heinz has endorsed the reappointment of Eddie Jones, labelling the England boss as “the best coach I’ve played under”.
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Jones signed a contract extension with the Rugby Football Union last week in a deal that will see him guide England through to the 2023 World Cup in France.
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Heinz was selected as one of two halfbacks in Jones’ squad for the World Cup in Japan last year, with the New Zealand-born product qualifying for England through his grandmother.
The 33-year-old only made his debut for his adopted nation in a warm-up fixture against Wales at Twickenham, and went on to feature regularly throughout the tournament en route to England’s runners-up finish to South Africa in the final.
Despite his brief stint in the national set-up, Heinz lathered Jones in praise in an interview with The Rugby Paper.
“All I can say on behalf of the squad about Eddie is that we love the environment he creates,” he said.
“He’s certainly the best coach I’ve played under in terms of attention to detail and the support he provides. It’s a challenging environment but with that comes all that support and he makes sure you’re in the best possible place to execute on any given day.”
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Heinz’s claim isn’t one to be taken lightly given that the former Crusaders and Canterbury halfback has been coached by All Blacks contender Scott Robertson as well as Todd Blackadder.
He has also found himself under the stewardship of Australian veteran Laurie Fisher and ex-Lions coach Johan Ackermann during his time at Gloucester.
Heinz noted that Jones had earned the respect of his players because of the way he had resurrected England in the lead-up to the World Cup, which was followed by a strong showing in this year’s Six Nations before its suspension last month.
“I know England had a run of losses in 2018 but apart from that he’s done amazing things with this team. To get to a World Cup final was impressive and although we lost that and then came back and dropped another game against France, since then our consistency has been good and that’s down to the environment he creates,” Heinz told The Rugby Paper.
“The players have a ton of respect for him and one of the things I’ve really noticed since being involved are the one-on-one relationship he seems to have with guys in the squad
“The relationships are there, you can see it in the conversations he has, and with 30-40 players to deal with he puts so much time into it.”
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