Eddie Jones has come out strongly in support of the RFU’s departing chief executive, placing his weight squarely behind Steve Brown, whose departure is thought to have been the result of political infighting. “He’s a really good guy,” said England’s head coach. “He has good skills and a nice manner and was very supportive of the team. I’ll certainly miss him, and I’m sure the organisation will miss him. But life moves on, and the RFU will keep pounding forward.”
The RFU announced the departure on Friday, eliciting distress among much of the staff. The chairman, Andrew Cosslett, paid handsome tribute to Brown, but rumours abound that other sections of the organisation felt less well disposed.
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The former chief executive, Francis Baron, circulated a report among a few former presidents, highlighting what he saw as poor financial results, with the costs of the new East Stand, in particular, running well over budget, partly because of tighter safety measures being introduced after the Grenfell Tower fire. The RFU has made many redundancies this year.
Jones sympathises with the pressures of the job. “I was very surprised when I learned about it,” he said, “because I think he was enjoying the job. You’ve got to remember, those CEO jobs are difficult, particularly CEO of English rugby. You’ve got so many conflicting interests. You’ve got to manage all the parties. It’s a wearing job. It’s a bit like being the head coach, mate.”
Jones’s job was certainly uncomfortable for the first 40 minutes against Japan, before his side recovered from 15-10 down to win 35-15. The Australian played down his half-time team talk, famously ferocious when he was in charge of Japan in the buildup to the 2015 World Cup. “It’s not like the old days,” he said. “Once you get past 55 you tone it down. We just talked about the fact we needed more effort. We weren’t getting stuck in but we did in the second half, which is really pleasing for us. Our players will have learned a lot about that.
“I saw Leitchy [Michael Leitch, Japan’s captain now and when Jones was Japan coach] afterwards. He reckons he didn’t play that well. I thought he played pretty well.”
Indeed Leitch was all things to all men, particularly in the first half, when Japan played with as much confidence and threat as they had on that famous afternoon in Brighton in 2015, when they beat the Springboks. The man himself remained unconvinced.
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“I didn’t play very well,” Leitch repeated. “I guess I missed some opportunities. We did create space but we were a bit reluctant to get the ball into that space.”
His current coach, Jamie Joseph, did not agree. “With our players,” he said, “they feel really disappointed if they don’t win, no matter who they’re playing. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But to put it into context, to come to Twickenham is a massive challenge for any team. Michael led the charge. He’s our leader. He plays like he played today in every match I’ve ever coached him, and it’s really easy for our team to follow.”
Japan continue to progress. Jones finished with some memories of his first tour as their coach. “The first time I took Japan to Europe we played Georgia and Romania and we had a pick-up game against the French Barbarians in Le Havre. The only place where there’s English pubs in France. Very, very strange place. But now Japan get to play the All Blacks, and they get to play England in front of 81,000 people. It’s fantastic. It’s a proper rugby country now, which people take seriously. The performance today only reinforces that.”