Normal service has been resumed in a variety of ways. England chugged their way to the kind of unsexy Calcutta Cup victory that has often been their trademark, Scotland yet again flattered only to deceive and the game’s overall quality bore little comparison to the vibrant rugby that illuminated last autumn’s World Cup. Neither team were anywhere near their best, with the home side’s lack of penetration especially disappointing.
For Eddie Jones, though, even an ugly win is a thing of beauty at this early stage of his stewardship. Had England lost it would have cast a shadow over this week’s preparations for Sunday’s fixture in Italy. Instead Jones and co can now trot out in Rome on Valentine’s Day in positive mood, with the depression of last year’s World Cup finally starting to lift. Win again in the Eternal City and life will feel sweeter still.
There are also signs that Jones’s direct style of man-management is having the desired effect on his forwards, most notably Billy Vunipola. The No8 is looking fitter and the responsibility of vice-captaincy has stirred the competitive beast within. “I don’t want him to be the best No8 in the Premiership, I want him to be the best No8 in the world and he can do that,” insisted Jones, reflecting on Vunipola’s forceful effort. “I tell him every day. I think every player needs to have a dream; as a coach one of your jobs is to give them dreams.”
Playing in a successful Saracens team – as with George Kruis, Owen Farrell and his older brother Mako – has clearly done Vunipola no harm either. No one is suggesting he is yet the new Sergio Parisse – he certainly shows no sign of wanting to kick drop goals – but this coming weekend’s head-on encounter between the rival back-row gladiators would have shifted a few tickets in the Colosseum back in the day.
Jones clearly sees his battering ram as a potential talisman who can inspire those around him and his team-mate James Haskell is another fan. “Billy is a fantastic player and over the years he has improved his work-rate. He is such a devastating carrier. If the rest of the back row can clear a few rucks and allow him to carry then that’s the key. I thought he was brilliant.”
There is some way still to go before England can boast platoons of world-beaters; direct comparisons with New Zealand remain invidious for now. Under Jones, though, England can be relied upon to be more hard-nosed, with Paul Gustard’s defensive promptings already having an effect. At some stage there is bound to be a debate about England’s preferred style but, when it materialises, Jones will remain unapologetic.
“Fans are pragmatic too. If we had tossed the ball around and got beat 17-16, no one would say: ‘Oh, they played wonderful rugby.’ I’ve been through all that. I coached the Brumbies in 2000, we were the best team in the competition, had the ball for 70% of the final and got beat 20-19. No one congratulated us on that performance. We were super that day and we got beaten. It’s all about winning. Fans like winning teams.”
Given what happened in the World Cup pool games against Wales and Australia, Jones is also conscious of the need to make his senior players feel better about themselves again. Dan Cole and James Haskell duly did their best to reward Jones’s faith and the way England’s pack grew stronger in the second-half, squeezing out any prospect of a Scottish revival, was in contrast with the recent past.
“The World Cup wasn’t a good experience,” confirmed Jones. “A couple of boys were talking about it the other night. At the end of the Australian game they just couldn’t believe what had happened. That’s a pretty difficult situation. To recover and then come out after two weeks together and put out that collective performance … it wasn’t one person doing outstanding things, it was a team working together.”
It also vindicated Jones’s statistical homework, which had uncovered the fact that Scotland were less likely to score after the first half-hour. Jones told his players at half-time he thought they had already done the hard bit and he was proven correct. “We just needed to tighten the game a bit. We were trying to force a game that wasn’t going to come. That’s what I am pleased about – they really adjusted and read the game. That was good pragmatism today. You find a way to win and you do it.”
Scotland, who go to Cardiff this Saturday without a Six Nations victory in eight games – their worst sequence since the championship’s expansion in 2000 – will kick themselves again when they study the tape.
They made eight incursions into the England 22 without creating a try, kicked away a great chance after Finn Russell had grabbed an intercept and could not keep the scoreboard ticking in the first-half when they had the opportunities to do so.
Jones had already anticipated a stop-start contest with Ireland’s John Lacey in charge – “It is difficult to get a moving game under him” – and, barring well-taken tries from Kruis and the energetic Jack Nowell, England also created few clear-cut opportunities. It might be different in Rome, given Italy’s clear desire to play a more open brand of rugby and the presence of a southern hemisphere referee in New Zealand’s Glen Jackson. “He favours attacking teams that keep the ball so we’ll be able to play a bit more,” predicted Jones. “It should also be a faster deck in Rome. If we get those conditions we want to be able to move the ball a bit more.”
That may yet be good news for Harlequins’ Jack Clifford, who made an encouraging second-half debut, but Jones is not the sort of man to insist that teams run before they can walk. For now it is enough that England are learning to win again, regardless of how they do it.
Scotland Hogg (Glasgow); Maitland (London Irish), Bennett (Glasgow), Scott (Edinburgh), Seymour (Glasgow; Taylor (Saracens, 67); Russell (Glasgow), Laidlaw (Gloucester, capt); Dickinson (Edinburgh; G Reid (Glasgow, 58), Ford (Edinburgh; McInally (Edinburgh, 64), Nel (Edinburgh; Fagerson (Glasgow, 69), R Gray (Toulouse), J Gray (Glasgow; Swinson (Glasgow, 70), Barclay (Scarlets; Cowan (London Irish, 59), Hardie (Edinburgh), Denton (Bath). Pens Laidlaw 3.
England Brown (Harlequins); Watson (Bath), Joseph (Bath), Farrell (Saracens), Nowell (Exeter); Ford (Bath), Care (Harlequins; B Youngs (Leicester, 55); Marler (Harlequins; M Vunipola (Saracens, 49), Hartley (Northampton, capt; J George (Saracens, 77), Cole (Leicester), Launchbury (Wasps; Lawes (Northampton, 47), Kruis (Saracens), Robshaw (Harlequins; Clifford (Harlequins, 69), Haskell (Wasps), B Vunipola (Saracens). Tries Kruis, Nowell. Con Farrell. Pen Farrell.
Referee J Lacey (Ire). Att 67,144.
