Alun Wyn Jones’s dry wit aside, Eddie Jones is rarely described as avuncular. Uncles are not known for feuding with Premiership club owners nor belittling neighbouring countries but a return to South Africa shines a different light on England’s head coach.
Eddie Jones catapults Brad Shields on to England bench against South Africa
Jones and South Africa have history. He recently said he “understands the South African rugby psyche as well as any”, having been on their coaching staff for the 2007 World Cup triumph and masterminded what was described by the Die Rapport newspaper as the “darkest day in Springbok history” in 2015. A few months later he took charge of the Stormers but left after less than two weeks to take the England job. Suffice to say his relationship with the rainbow nation is colourful.
Jones’s contributions to the 2007 World Cup-winning Springboks cannot be overstated, however. The former South Africa head coach, Nick Mallett described Jones’s role in the camp as “Uncle Wallaby” – a calming presence and a sharp technical mind to improve their attack – and the players hold him in even higher esteem. The day after the final the Springboks refused to wear their famous green and gold blazers to the World Rugby awards dinner because Jones – not being South African – was not allowed to do so.
I don’t think South Africans understand how much of an impact Eddie really had in 2007
Bryan Habana went as far as to send Jones his own blazer a few weeks later. “We saw the Eddie who wasn’t really under the spotlight like he is at the moment,” Habana recalls. “We were fortunate in that regard. We had the fun-loving, very technical Eddie Jones who played a crucial part in fine-tuning our specific structure for 2007. As players who were involved with him for that three- to four-month period we fully understand his value and for that we have a lot of respect for him.
“From the general public point of view I don’t think South Africans understand how much of an impact Eddie really had. Not a lot of people were aware of exactly what he did compared to the other coaches. A lot of us as players were fully aware of his strengths and conjured up a relationship because of Eddie.”
If his role 11 years ago did not leave an imprint on the South African public, Japan’s victory in 2015 certainly did. Jean de Villiers, the former captain who started for South Africa in Brighton, admits: “It felt like a defeat to Eddie Jones’s Japan.” Schalk Burger, another on the losing side that day, pointedly remarks: “Eddie Jones has been holding his camps in Brighton ever since.”
Jones does not outwardly seek adulation and, considering they could finish the weekend fifth in the world rankings, arresting England’s slump is dominating his thoughts at present. But there is no doubting South Africa is no ordinary away trip for Jones and Saturday’s series opener is a contest he is relishing. “I am so excited about it. In world rugby who do you want to beat? The Springboks at Ellis Park; it is the spiritual home of rugby.”
De Villiers – like Habana part of the 2007 squad but injured early in the campaign – is another who holds Jones in “very high regard”. But as a Cape Town native he recalls obvious disappointment over Jones’s abrupt departure from the Stormers. Albeit with tongue firmly in cheek, he even suggests there may be some unfavourable local coverage in the build-up to the third Test at Newlands. “Once you’ve committed to one thing, do you then go for the better offer? It was always going to be a tough one for Eddie to say no to,” he says.
“With the pound calling rather than the rand, a national side with everything at your disposal versus a Super Rugby franchise in a building stage … It was going to be a battle that the Stormers would lose.”
Habana agrees. “I think a lot of people were disappointed he didn’t go on with the Stormers but we in the game understood the opportunity that had presented itself.”
Jones’s reasons for taking the Stormers job are perhaps more revealing, then, than those for leaving. “I wanted to prove that an Australian could coach in South Africa,” he has since said, and that may explain the obvious appeal that coaching the 2021 British & Irish Lions holds. Firstly, however, he must negotiate the Highveld at Ellis Park before moving on to Bloemfontein and then to Cape Town for a potentially decisive third Test.
It was there that, eight days before he was appointed by England, upon his unveiling as head coach of the Stormers, he said: “I woke up this morning and looked at Table Mountain … I’m very happy to be here.” It remains to be seen if that still rings true when he catches his next glimpse.
Bryan Habana is a Land Rover ambassador. Land Rover has a heritage in rugby at all levels; from grassroots to elite. @LandRoverRugby