England coach Eddie Jones' relationship with fans is broken - Ugo Monye
- Published
- comments
Jones succeeded Stuart Lancaster after England's pool-stage exit from the 2015 Rugby World Cup
England coach Eddie Jones must win over disenchanted fans if he is survive a period of pressure and scrutiny and take the team to the Rugby World Cup, says former England wing Ugo Monye.
England have won only five Tests out of 12 this year, with France, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Australia and Argentina all inflicting defeats.
"Fans aren't buying into it anymore," Monye told Rugby Union Weekly.
"The number one thing Eddie Jones has to fix is that relationship."
England were booed off the Twickenham pitch by some fans after their final defeat of the autumn against the Springboks on Saturday, with the Rugby Football Union saying it sympathised with disgruntled supporters and announcing a review into a run of "really disappointing" results.
Speculation has followed, external that RFU bosses could end Jones' seven-year reign and bring in a new coach a little more than nine months before the start of the Rugby World Cup in France.
"If he goes, I think there will be people saying it should have happened sooner given the Six Nations is in two months and then a World Cup," said Monye.
"With poor results and poor performances, you need a sense of faith backed by more than just a gut feeling - there needs to be something tangible behind it.
"It is hard to find that tangible evidence at the moment.
"I don't think anyone is saying Eddie Jones is a bad coach, he has an incredible proven track record.
"But if I look at football…Jose Mourinho is a great coach, but that relationship ran its course at Chelsea and other clubs.
"I look at Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. He did so many incredible things, he was behind the Invincibles [the unbeaten Premier League champions of 2004], but he was there too long and he had to go.
"There are so many examples of world-class coaches who stay too long."
Jones has a hugely impressive record at the Rugby World Cup. As well as taking England to the final in Japan in 2019, he finished as a runner-up with Australia in 2003.
He was part of the backroom staff that helped South Africa to the title in 2007 and secured a famous victory over the Springboks as Japan's coach in 2015.
Scrum-half Danny Care, who has won 34 of his 87 England caps under Jones, said this autumn's performances suggested problems behind the scenes, even if his personal experience of working with the Australian was hugely positive.
"Eddie has been my best coach as an England player," he told Rugby Union Weekly.
"He sees things in the game that not many others that I have worked with see.
Care (right) was picked as starting scrum-half in Jones' first match in charge of England - a 15-9 win away to Scotland
"There are obviously issues in that camp, whether that is a confidence thing or a clarity thing, I am not sure.
"When I went back into the squad in the summer [tour of Australia] for three Tests, the camp harmony was amazing.
"The coach-player relationship was fantastic. I thought Eddie was different from the last time I worked with him [in 2018].
"He was way more accepting of players being who they want to be, he wanted players to go out and run the squad, it was a very player-led environment.
"I don't know what has gone on this autumn, but you look at the results and performances and they aren't good enough."
Analysis
BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones:
The mood music around Twickenham is that Eddie Jones' future is in the balance, with the RFU hierarchy rattled by the reaction of the supporters at the end of the meek defeat by South Africa.
While the union have stood squarely behind Jones at various pressure points during his seven-year tenure, this feels different, even though the Rugby World Cup is around the corner.
Jones - and the RFU's - fixation with the 2023 tournament has come at a cost, with seven defeats this calendar year and a rugby public rapidly descending into apathy.