Four months and nine days after he hit the lowest point of his coaching career in Pretoria, Eddie Jones stood at the heart of South Africa’s dressing room in Paris. It was half-time of a World Cup group match between England and South Africa on 14 September 2007 and deep in the Stade de France Jones looked on in fascination as the Springbok players took charge.
“It was incredible,” he told me when we revisited the scene while working on his autobiography. “There I was, surrounded by great Springboks I had been up against as a coach for years. I felt very lucky and, also, amazed at the ups and downs of life as a rugby coach. Four months before a lot of those same players had given me and the Reds a real beating in Pretoria. It still seems strange to think how it all worked out.”
Written by Donald McRae
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/01/eddie-jones-south-africa-rugby-world-cup-final under the title “‘One of my greatest experiences’: Eddie Jones recalls South Africa years | Donald McRae”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
