Eddie Jones’ coaching career had a familiar arc: bright start, a peak that almost led to glory and a downturn before a parting of the ways.
Jones won a Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup with the Wallabies before taking that side to the 2003 World Cup final.
His side were oft-criticised for a game that was heavy on grind and light on flair. Much the same has been said of his Grand Slam-winning English team.
Sometimes success comes at a cost.
REVEALED: The secrets of Eddie Jones' English revolution https://t.co/UrzWkdNAEb
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 20, 2016
Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson believes there has been a long-term and far-reaching blight cast upon Australian rugby and he lays the blame at Jones’ door.
Following his team’s third Super Rugby loss in five games, the former All Black lamented the difference between youth rugby in Australia and his native New Zealand.
The ‘Tahs made a number of unforced passing and handling errors in their most recent loss to Melbourne Rebels. Gibson told the Australian Associated Press:
“It’s something that, here in NSW, we’re wanting to investigate to make sure our pathways and our kids coming through are taught the skills that we think are necessary to play running rugby.
“It’s a structural thing. The difficulty for us is, I think, the Eddie Jones era of playing A, B, C certain type of rugby. That lack of decision making has had an effect on Australian rugby in the fact that it’s very pervasive in the schooling system.
“So we tend to get our boys at 18 and probably their skills are very good but they’re just missing that decision making (ability) in an open environment.”
Gibson says he is embracing the challenge and, while he gets to the bottom of it, will embrace the strengths of the current Aussies in his squad.
It MUST be noted, however, that the Waratahs won the 2014 Super Rugby title and the Wallabies did reach the 2015 World Cup final.
Then again, there’s no pleasing some Kiwis.
