The Sunday Times February 13, 2022 7
In The Times on
Tuesday, Matthew
Syed provided a
devastating and, in
my opinion, accurate
dismantling of Eddie
Jones, Stephen Jones
writes. In his
unpicking of the
England head coach’s
tenure, he declared
that Jones is rugby’s
Dominic
Cummings.
On our
shared
online
platform
with The
Times, there
was some
consistent
support for Jones,
including one
commenter, a David
Pembroke, who took
on everyone who had
as much as offered an
adverse opinion on
Jones, using words
such as “outrageous”
and “slanderous”.
Pembroke, inset, is
a key adviser to Jones,
something he
admitted halfway
through his barrage
of posts. As Jones
wrote of Pembroke in
his autobiography, “Istill speak to Pembers
most days, and he
ensures I stay
on top of my
communication. He is
a brilliant strategist
and helps me say the
right message to the
right audience at the
right time.”
Dear God. If there
is one person that
rugby detectives
have been
searching for
for years, it
is the man
responsible
for the
public
utterances of
Eddie. The
Pembroke advice has
not only led to an
outpouring of utter
twaddle, but has also
compelled Jones to
utter insults for
which, in my
calculation, he has
had to apologise on
four separate
occasions and
received a warning
from Twickenham.
Mr Pembroke, you
are so off-beam it’s
incredible. In my
opinion you may be
part of the problem.PEMBROKE LEADS
EDDIE’S DEFENCE...
HOW THEY
LINE UP TODAY
ON TV TODAY
Italy v England
2.15pm ITV
Kick-off 3pmITALY
15 E Padovani
14 F Mori
13 J I Brex
12 M Zanon
11 M Ioane
10 P Garbisi
9 S Varney
1 D Fischetti
2 G Lucchesi
3 P Ceccarelli
4 N Cannone
5 F Ruzza
6 B Steyn
7 M Lamaro
8 T HalafihiReplacements
16 H Faiva
17 C Traore
18 T Pasquali
19 D Sisi
20 S Negri
21 G Pettinelli
22 A Fusco
23 L MarinENGLAND
15 F Steward
14 M Malins
13 J Marchant
12 H Slade
11 J Nowell
10 M Smith
9 H Randall
1 E Genge
2 J George
3 W Stuart
4 C Ewels
5 N Isiekwe
6 M Itoje
7 T Curry
8 A DombrandtReplacements
16 L Cowan-Dickie
17 J Marler
18 K Sinckler
19 O Chessum
20 S Simmonds
21 B Youngs
22 G Ford
23 E Dalycould have done about two precise
cross-kicks from Finn Russell, nor
about Cowan-Dickie’s moment.
There were mistakes by both teams
during the last 15 minutes, though
England were the greater culprits.
It is also true that the concluding
scrum, with its three resets, could
have led to a penalty for England.
Allow me, though, to address
something that did contribute to the
game turning Scotland’s way at the
end. Maro Itoje’s performance. Itoje
is England’s most influential player.
Remember the moment, four
minutes from the end against France
at Twickenham 11 months ago, when
he grabbed the game by the scruff of
the neck and won it for England.
After ten minutes at Murrayfield it
was noticeable that he was struggling
with the pace of the game. Normally
he is a dynamic second-row forward.
I waited for him to get his second
wind. It never happened. So often in
the faces of the opposition, Itoje
spent most of the game trying to get
into it. There were occasional
moments, but nothing sustained.
His stats confirmed what the lack
of energy suggested: Itoje made six
tackles and only six metres with the
ball in hand; his opposite number,Post mortems missed
crucial factor: for once,
Itoje was off the pace
There are two ways to watch sport.
Live or at some point after a game
with the result known. During the Six
Nations, there is occasionally the
urge to do both. “You were at that
game two days ago,” my better half
will sometimes say. It can be difficult
to explain. Those inside the stadium
feel what is happening, but may not
see that much.
At the Aviva Stadium in Dublin last
weekend, I tried to follow Scotland v
England. Talk about a waste of time.
Eyes on the TV screen, mind
elsewhere. So on Sunday I watched
the match played at BT Murrayfield.
Test matches are often more
interesting in the cold light of the
next day. Without suspense there is
less excitement, but there is the
opportunity to work out why things
unfolded as they did. How exactly did
England lose a game that for more
than an hour they were winning?
The straightforward explanation is
that the hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie
made a big mistake at a key moment.
It’s not often you give away seven
points and reduce your team to 14
players in one play. Some of the more
in-depth reviews suggested Eddie
Jones, the head coach, erred in taking
off Marcus Smith, that this had been
the catalyst for the defeat. “I would
like to have seen Smith stay on,”
Martin Johnson said during the BBC’s
analysis, with the insinuation that we
may then have had a different result.
On Friday, Sir Ian McGeechan
wrote a piece for The Daily Telegraph
citing the decision to replace Smith
as crucial, claiming that within two
minutes the momentum had swung
Scotland’s way. The sub-heading on
the piece read: “Making wholesale
changes upsets the flow of a team —
as England’s decision to replace
Marcus Smith proved.”
Wholesale changes upsetting the
flow of a team? Is that what we were
all saying as South Africa made
wholesale second-half changes
during their march to victory at the
2019 World Cup. Every time the
Springboks replaced six of their
forwards, the team grew stronger.
Let us return to Smith and his
replacement, George Ford. A few
minutes before being taken off
Smith, who had a good game
and scored a fine try, had
missed touch with a
penalty that should have
set up an attacking
lineout inside the
Scotland 22m. That
may have prompted
the change but more
likely it was the
belief that Ford had
the skill set to see
out the game. The
score was 17-10 to
England when
Ford came on.
Before he touched
the ball it was 17-17. There
was nothing he or Smith, had
he still been on the pitch,David Walsh
‘It was noticeable
Itoje was struggling.
I waited for him to
get his second wind.
It never happened’
Jonny Gray, made 13 tackles and ten
metres. There were moments late in
the game when it seemed that just
getting off the ground and back into
the defensive line demanded all of his
resolve. This was not the real Itoje.
Something Itoje said to Michael
Odell for a piece in The Times last
month resonated. “This,” he said,
pointing to his head. “Ninety-five per
cent of players are at a physical peak,
so the marginal differences are now
mental. That’s what Eddie Jones and
the team are so good at. We become
this wall of mental strength ... We
rehearse the emotions that arise and
I think I am mentally stronger than
I’ve ever been. I’m becoming the
player I know I can be.”
Itoje wasn’t that player against the
Scots. Not even close. In the lung-
bursting intensity of the Test, his
mental wall crumbled. Twice in the
last 15 minutes he conceded
penalties: once for a lazy offside at a
ruck, the other for an early tackle on
Grant Gilchrist at a lineout, the kind
of offences that come when physical
exhaustion weakens discipline.
England conceded only ten penalties
in the match, so for one player to give
up two at the death was serious.
Those late penalties hurt England
far more than anything Ford did.
Believing this would, however, get in
the way of the narrative du jour.Springboks replaced
forwards, the team
Let us return to
replacement, Geo
minutes before be
Smith, who had
and scored
missed to
penalty t
set up an
lineout
Scotla
may h
the c
like
bel
th
o
s
E
F
Be
the ball it wa
was nothing h
he still been oItoje made six tackles
and just six metres
with the ball in hand
during a below-par
performance in
England’s defeat
by Scotlandhad precious little scoring power,
penalties apart.
The scrum is notoriously difficult
to referee, as we all know. But it is
impossible to spot any penalty
offence in the succession of scrums
and nor could either of the eminent
Test referees who commented
afterwards. Maybe England thought
that appealing loudly and
consistently would have an effect.‘Smokey’ Ashton: Jones’s
selections and general hullabaloo
have dragged English international
rugby down and down and down...
it only gets worse.”
SJ: He is to blame. He has made an
incoherent mess of the whole scene,
on and off the field. There were
many calls for England to make a
change of coach. England have to
step up a level after playing Italy and
Wales. If they lose to Ireland and
France, Twickenham must make
the change.Mr Grumpy: Match won by two
cross-kicks by Finn Russell. He’s far
from perfect but when he’s a genius,
he is a genius. Close game and played
in a good spirit, which is a plus
between these two nations.
SJ: Russell fell out with his coach,
Gregor Townsend. He was in exile.
Now he is thriving; in my view this isRAGES ON...
because Townsend likes to coach,
then leave his men to it; Jones has to
be the centre of everything.Joe Meaney: Losing Brian Moore
from BBC commentary was the real
defeat.
SJ: Brian will be missed but I think
that he himself will be embarrassed
to learn that his departure from the
men’s Six Nations commentary box
was more painful for the game at
large than an England defeat.‘Alea Iacta Est’: I cannot shake the
idea that somehow the Six Nations
matters more to other teams than it
does to England. I’m quite sure the
players themselves care enormously,
but somehow you always get the
feeling that Jones doesn’t really
accord the tournament the respect it
deserves as an end in itself.
SJ: Right on the money. The grand
slam is a huge deal for fans, players
and commercial interests. I definitely
get that same feeling about respect.‘My Dear Old Thing’: I do not
agree with anything that SJ has
written. England were far the better
team and were undone by a crafty try
and a refereeing error.
SJ: Perhaps you cannot beat
England, you can only score more
points.