2018 has been forgettable so far for England’s Australian coach but he knows a strong autumn with key players back available could paint a much brighter picture for next year’s World Cup
There have been better times to be an Australian rugby coach working in the UK. Leicester’s decision to sack Matt O’Connor after just one game of the season is the latest dent to antipodean pride, leaving Eddie Jones as the last prominent wizard from Oz still in charge in England. Like so many boomerangs the rest are heading back from whence they came.
Every nationality, to be fair, tends to find coaching in the northern hemisphere trickier than expected. Partly it is the length of the season, partly the tribal nature of the rugby and the dizzying amount of plates that require constant spinning. The dominant godfathers of coaching in these islands have been either homegrown or, in the case of Joe Schmidt, Warren Gatland and Pat Lam, wily Kiwis who have spent years in these parts and know the landscape inside out.
Written by Robert Kitson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2018/sep/04/eddie-jones-year-england-rugby-world-cup-2019 under the title “Eddie Jones has a year to get England firing again – he might need some help | Robert Kitson”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
