Former England head coach Eddie Jones has revealed his three top takeaways from Saturday’s Six Nations thriller between his former side and France.
Speaking on the Rugby Unity podcast, Jones said: “Three things that stood out for me were: one, England’s identity as a rugby team, I think they’re still struggling to find it. I think Steve knows how he wants to play, and he knows the players he wants.”
England’s style of play has differed in each of their matches. Against France, they were unrecognisable from the side that had barely gotten out of first gear against Ireland and Scotland. Eddie believes that Borthwick has a clear vision, but from the outside, it’s still difficult to see what that is.
Jones then turned his attention to the French scrum-half, Antoine Dupont, saying: “The second thing, Dupont, I reckon he’s still an outstanding player, but he’s going through that sort of post-ACL where you’re a different player, you don’t have that, and he’s still adapting to a major injury, and so he’s not the force he was.”
While Dupont may not quite receive the same level of plaudits that he once did, there’s no doubt that he’s still a world-class operator. The way in which he has what feels like an unlimited amount of time on the ball is unmatched in the game.
Any athlete returning from injury is going to need time to return to full match fitness, but Dupont is at such a level that his 80% is still equivalent to the top level of most other world-class players.
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‘It’s all about social media’
“The third thing is, is this the way we’re going to have rugby in the future?” continued Jones. “Is that what we want, tries, a lot of tries, big scores, players celebrating?
“It’s all about social media. And if that’s the case, that’s good. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all, but let’s make sure that we adjust the way we interpret the laws.”
Jones is keen to keep the game as fair and as interesting as possible, adding: “I had a chat with Steve Hansen on the weekend about the yellow card. He had that idea about maybe just say, basketball, we have a free throw, so you get a penalty in front of the post for a single offence. So keep 15 and 15 on the field, and you get a shot at a penalty goal.”