Eddie Jones and Jonah Lomu: Headline-makers in different ways

IT HAS been some week for rugby. In a period overshadowed by the terrorist attacks that has put all in France and beyond on high alert, the postponement of Munster’s Champions Cup game in Paris was absolutely necessary.

While absorbing the enormity of what was happening around Saint-Denis in Paris, an area well known to all rugby fans — with the Stade de France bang smack in the middle of the district, on television last Wednesday night — news filtered through of the untimely death of a true rugby giant, in Jonah Lomu.

Within 24 hours, another legendary figure in New Zealand rugby in captain Richie McCaw confirmed the worst kept secret in the game when announcing his retirement after the most decorated and remarkable career of any player to adorn an international jersey.

The following day the RFU called a press conference at Twickenham confirming the appointment of Eddie Jones as England’s new head coach for a four-year period. Never one short of a word or shy in his criticism of English rugby and indeed some of the players he now presides over, Jones will prove fascinating watching over the next few years but has what it takes to turn England’s fortunes around.

He is a tough competitor. I first came across him on the 2001 Lions tour when he coached the Brumbies and Australia ‘A’ in midweek games against us. First impressions were of a really annoying, lippy little man with chips on both shoulders. There was no denying, however, that he was an excellent coach.

Jones knows how to wind people up, which should add even further spice to England’s games against Wales as himself and Warren Gatland go head-to-head on that front. He was also one of those, along with Bob Dwyer, used frequently by various Australian management teams to set a media agenda against various opponents.

He would question perceived illegalities by a variety of teams including the Lions, England and New Zealand in just about any aspect of play where the Wallabies had difficulty in dealing with specific opposition strengths — the scrum and breakdown being the most frequent.

I grew to admire him over the years, not least his achievement in getting Australia to the 2003 World Cup final and extending the favourites England to extra-time in that decider before Jonny Wilkinson landed that epic drop goal. Jones succeeded Rod Macqueen, probably Australia’s best ever coach, and did an outstanding job with a side on the wane having won the World Cup four years earlier.

He was also a key member of the South African management team that led the Springboks to World Cup glory in 2007, but it’s his incredible achievements with Japan at the recent event that showcase his ability to extract the best from teams under his watch.

Those achievements will heap a huge amount of pressure on him now. If he can orchestrate a game plan of sufficient quality for Japan to beat South Africa at a World Cup, surely he can do the same for England?

The fact that a comparative novice in international coaching stakes in Stuart Lancaster could lead England to the runners-up slot in each of his four seasons in charge at the Six Nations championship dictates there is only one outcome that will appease all in the RFU and beyond. Jones must deliver a Six Nations title for England within four months of taking charge. The reality suggests he will need more time to affect real change.

The thing I admire most about Jones is his stubbornness and the clarity in his vision. He knows what he wants and doesn’t suffer fools. That is why I was taken aback by his confirmation within 12 hours of taking the job that he will adhere to the existing policy of not selecting English players playing outside the Aviva Premiership.

I am surprised Jones would accept any enforced decision that restricts his options in selection. Even his immediate predecessor had a caveat, in that “in exceptional circumstances”, he could opt to do so.

The fact that Lancaster failed to exercise it by selecting a genuine open side in Steffon Armitage to match the threat posed by World Cup turnover specialists in David Pocock, Michael Hooper, Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Akapusi Qera, all in England’s pool, proved a massive factor to Lancaster losing his job.

To make up for that, Jones will cast the net wide over a number of players who qualify for England on the three year residency rule — Wasps explosive No 8 Nathan Hughes looks a prime candidate when he becomes eligible next June — and on the grandparents rule such as Leicester Tigers’ exciting new Auckland openside Brendon O’Connor.

With CJ Stander on the brink of a merited call up for Ireland, we can hardly complain on that front.

Jones now finds himself at the helm of the richest rugby union in the game with massive playing resources supplemented further by successive England U20 World Cup-winning squads along with an impressive spread of talented and now experienced young internationals in George Ford, Owen Farrell, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Joe Launchbury and the Vunipola brothers.

Speaking to officials attached to World Rugby (IRB to you and me) during the World Cup, I suggested that it was a pity Eddie Jones won’t be with Japan when they host the tournament in 2019. Their response was that he had ruffled enough feathers during his tenure that they were glad to see the back of him, irrespective of the magnificent job he did.

RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie accepts that Jones “can be challenging” but I suspect that is exactly what English rugby needs right now. That said, Ritchie might well be happy to see the back of him too in four years time, regardless of the success of the appointment. Jones has that effect on people but, more importantly, he has the potential to awaken a sleeping giant in English rugby.

I only met Jonah Lomu once — Martin Johnson introduced him to me in a Parisian hotel in 2010 — but he was a big hit in our house long before that, 13 years earlier to be precise. When Ireland played New Zealand in Dublin in 1997, I was a selector on Brian Ashton’s management team.

Much to our relief, Jonah was rested for that game but attended the pre-match lunch hosted by the IRFU. My 10-year-old son David was at that lunch, sitting on his own at a table while my wife was getting his food at the buffet.

Imagine his face when Jonah scanned the room and decided the safest point of refuge from the multiple prying eyes was to sit next to him. For a 10-year-old, this was even better than Christmas morning. He couldn’t believe it, and Lomu was joined by other non-playing members of their squad including future captain Tana Umaga, Byron Kelleher and Aaron Hopa. Hopa died tragically some years later while scuba diving.

Jonah was an absolute gent that day and was very friendly speaking to Mary and David throughout. Over lunch he had two cups of tea go stone cold as people kept coming over to him looking for his autograph. For years, a photo of Jonah and David sitting together had pride of place in our house, making his untimely passing last week even more poignant.

In terms of his prowess on the field, I was privileged to witness in the flesh the greatest individual performance of any player at a World Cup when he dismantled England on his own in the 1995 semi-final in Cape Town.

Sitting amongst a group of English supporters in Newlands that day, when Jonah made the likes of Mike Catt, Will Carling, Rob Andrew and Tony Underwood look inadequate was something I will never forget.

That game was over as a contest after two minutes when Lomu obliterated three England defenders when registering the first of his four tries that day. The English fans were initially shocked and stunned into silence as their World Cup dream evaporated before their eyes in a display of pace and power never witnesses before — or since for that matter.

By the end, they were left with no option but to stand and applaud the giant New Zealand wizard. He was, and always will, remain special.