The Telegraph‘s chief sports writer, Oliver Brown, says Eddie Jones should have no cause to feel vulnerable in his position as England head coach.
Jones has come under fire as England have won just one of their opening three Six Nations matches in a run that has included a historic loss to Scotland at Twickenham and a 40-24 defeat by Wayne Pivac’s Wales side.
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It means that England are unlikely to defend their Six Nations title, as they currently sit in third place and trail first-placed Wales by eight points with two rounds left in the tournament.
However, in a column for the Telegraph, Brown argued that Jones’ superior record as England head coach means that he should not be under any pressure to keep his job.
‘Even as the vultures circle around the carcass of England’s Six Nations campaign, Eddie Jones has little cause to feel vulnerable just yet,’ Brown wrote. ‘It is not simply that he has signed a contract extension until the 2023 World Cup, albeit at a 25% discount from his original £750,000-a-year salary, but that he retains a win ratio that is the envy of the world.
‘After almost 5½ years with England, the longest period that he has coached anywhere, Jones has won 77.4% of his games in charge. That is more than Sir Clive Woodward, who guided England to the ultimate prize and thus never tires of lecturing the Australian on where he is going wrong, with 71.1. It is far more than Brian Ashton, the forgotten man of the country’s journey to the 2007 World Cup final, who managed just 52.4. On statistics alone, Jones could be forgiven for asking why his position should be in the slightest doubt.
‘Too easily do we overlook that when Jones took over amid the post-mortem into England’s pool-stage exit from their own World Cup, his remodelled team proceeded to win 18 games in a row. That is an unheard-of streak for an England coach: the next best was Woodward’s 14 from 2002-03. In the history of the game, only the All Blacks’ Steve Hansen has matched it.’
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