Rugby World Cup: Eddie Jones predicted England would be crowned world champions in Yokohama on day he was appointed
SAY what you like about Eddie Jones but when he puts a date in his diary, it is written in red letters and underlined in triplicate.
On the day he was unveiled as England’s head coach almost four years ago, the visionary Aussie announced his new team would be crowned world champions in Yokohama at around 8pm local time on November 2, 2019.
Today, Jones — destiny’s child — fully expects to embrace that momentous fate.
Yet the path to glory left a trail of destruction, thanks to this devilish Tasmanian’s relentless pursuit of perfection.
Jones has capped a staggering 129 PLAYERS since his first match against Scotland in February 2016 and his backroom staff has been through several significant changes, too.
His obsessive, exhausting methods owe much to chaos theory. Yet here we are with England facing South Africa as clear favourites in today’s World Cup final — proving method in his apparent madness.
Jones is a restless man. Half-Japanese, he seems at home in the bright lights and bustle of sleepless Tokyo.
Asked how much kip he’d been getting this week, he replied: ‘Enough’.
Invited to elaborate, he responded: “Three or four hours a night. And an hour in the afternoon.”
This restlessness has been apparent in England’s journey to the final. Only four of those who started that first match at Murrayfield will line up against the Boks — Owen Farrell, George Ford, Anthony Watson and Billy Vunipola.
That was the start of a glorious 17-match winning streak, followed by a meltdown last year and stuttering improvement since.
No one knew what to make of this England side until two weeks ago when Australia were demolished in the quarter-final, before last Saturday’s masterclass against the back-to-back world champion All Blacks.
Only for the final has tinkerman Jones named his first unchanged starting XV for 3½ years. The state of flux has finally subsided.
Jones has his team where he wants them, timed perfectly for that red-letter day in his diary.
“You build bits and pieces,” said Jones. “You go forwards, you go backwards. But we’ve been building over four years and now this is our chance to put it all together.”
Even in these past few weeks, there has been no room for sentiment or reputation from the 59-year-old Jones.
Fly-half Ford was dropped to the bench for the quarter-final against Australia despite being in outstanding form, only to be restored to face New Zealand.
Of course, many big-name players such as ex-skippers Dylan Hartley and Chris Robshaw didn’t even make it into the 31-man squad for Japan.
Neither did some of England’s most naturally-talented players such as Danny Cipriani , Danny Care and Chris Ashton.
Flamboyant winger Ashton officially withdrew from contention due to his wife’s pregnancy but was unlikely to have made the cut.
Then Lions centre Ben Te’o and long-serving full-back Mike Brown were ditched after an altercation at a team social event in Treviso in August.
Jones takes few prisoners when it comes to disciplinary issues. Binning Brad Shields, after he’d gone out of his way to persuade the flanker to switch allegiance from New Zealand, was another example of his ruthlessness.
Jones sacked England’s entire coaching staff when he replaced Stuart Lancaster after the 2015 World Cup, including captain Farrell’s father Andy.
And there have since been several changes to his vast backroom team — there are 31 non-playing members of the touring party here in Japan.
Two key coaches only arrived last year — ex-All Blacks boss John Mitchell was appointed defence coach, replacing Paul Gustard, who quit to take over at Harlequins.
And Aussie attack coach Scott Wisemantel also came in as England attempted to avert their serious slump.
Losing five straight matches during the Six Nations and summer tour of South Africa, meant patience with Jones was growing thin among RFU chiefs.
There was a feeling Jones was a short-sharp shock sort of coach — a demanding and exhausting boss who could burn out his players and staff.
Many comparisons were made with Jose Mourinho’s record of short-term success followed by rancour and implosion.
Yet Jones brought himself back from the brink, ‘regenerating’ his squad on that South Africa trip.
Farrell took over as captain, while young flanker Tom Curry emerged as a serious talent and is now a World Player of the Year nominee at 21.
Rugby World Cup
But in the afterglow of England’s epic toppling of New Zealand, it is jarring to remember the scale of the devastation Jones inherited.
Just weeks earlier, Lancaster led them to a humiliating group-stage World Cup exit on home soil.
But the RFU acted decisively by appointing Jones in weeks.
The journey since has been wild and winding. And yet this was always the date Jones was determined to keep.