By Daniel Schofield
Like Lord Voldemort, Eddie Jones has quickly assumed the role of he who must not be named around Twickenham.
The Australian has been whitewashed from the board of media coverage in the Twickenham press room, but an even more pointed critique of his legacy came from his successor, Steve Borthwick, during his post-match analysis of the 29-23 defeat by Scotland.
Not once was Jones namechecked by Borthwick but when he stated that England “weren’t good at anything” last year, there is no second guessing the inference that he received a hospital pass. Even the fabled new coach bounce will only take England so far when they are working from such a low base.
The stats provided by Opta bear out Borthwick’s thesis. England were near the bottom of the pile in nearly every metric among tier-one countries in 2022, perhaps most painfully in scrum (11th) and tackle (10th) success.
Behind every great England side has been a ferocious set-piece and defence but somewhere along the way this got forgotten in Jones’ obsession with jam tomorrow.
Hooker Jamie George grimaced when England’s scrum being ranked bottom among tier-one nations was put to him.
Steve Borthwick and (inset) Eddie Jones. Credit:AP, Getty
“That’s tough – very, very tough – and that has to change,” George said. “We’re all very, very ambitious people. We want to take England rugby back to the top and we’re aware that it hasn’t been good enough and especially in the autumn, it wasn’t.”
Borthwick was always going to draw a line in the sand with the past regime. He was broadcast on the speakers around Twickenham before the game in a clear attempt to announce the start of a new era after the “Dark Lord”.
Yet it is still striking that Borthwick was prepared to criticise the legacy bequeathed to him. No coach is more closely associated with Borthwick’s career than Jones, who employed him as an assistant coach with Japan and then England. Whenever Jones needed a backer in the court of public opinion, Borthwick always willingly mounted an often lonely case for the defence.
But that bond appears to be fraying, with Borthwick also suggesting the players lacked self-belief and confidence under Jones.
Duhan van der Merwe crosses the line for Scotland at Twickenham.Credit:PA
“One thing I have got to do here is get the players to believe in themselves and get the players to bring their strengths to the pitch,” Borthwick said. “Get them to play to the best of themselves, which I don’t think we have seen them do for a while. I think you saw an improvement in that regard today.
“I’d seen a habit with the team of conceding points early and not being able to respond to it. We conceded points today and the biggest thing I was looking at was the response. I thought the response was magnificent.”
That response was led by Max Malins, who scored a pair of first-half tries which showcased the quick ruck speed that attack coach Nick Evans had prioritised. Five-eighth Marcus Smith spoke of playing at a “tempo that’s a shock to us and therefore a shock to defend”, and the speed of England’s play was the most striking difference in the performances from the northern hemisphere autumn.
Smith also suggested he felt liberated by the change of backroom staff, with his club coach Evans on secondment from Harlequins to England.
“Being able to work with Snap [Evans] at this level is brilliant,” Smith said. “I felt myself out there. I got my hands on the ball but it just wasn’t enough. I’ll go back to the drawing board and work on it. We’ve got weapons. It’s my job to try and find the best way to shoot our weapons and I’m still learning. I thought it was a much better performance than we showed in the autumn.”
That pace was not always matched by accuracy. Scotland, led by two stunning scores by Duhan van der Merwe, were far more clinical with their chances in sealing back-to-back victories at Twickenham for the first time.
Of greater concern for Borthwick and new defence coach Kevin Sinfield was the number of missed tackles – 25 in all. Several of those came on van der Merwe but both his tries came as a result of a poor kick chase. “Inexcusable” according to George.
There will be no excuses, however, when Italy come to Twickenham on Sunday with their tails up after pushing France all the way in Rome.
Telegraph, London
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