SM
Watford vs. Leeds: 9 hrs 28 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

England

Eddie Jones wants England to become greatest team of all time

:Headline: Eddie Jones wants England to become greatest team of all time: ID:395149: from db_amp
The 60-year-old will overtake Sir Clive Woodward as the country's longest-serving coach.

Eddie Jones will continue as England's head coach until the next World Cup after deciding he still had unfinished business in the job.

The Australian took over in 2015 and, having overseen a runners-up finish in last year's tournament in Japan, has agreed a two-year extension to take him through to 2023.

By that time, the 60-year-old will have overtaken Sir Clive Woodward as the country's longest-serving coach.

The basic terms of the deal have been settled for some time but Jones' desire to assess England's performances in the paused Six Nations campaign, followed by coronavirus emergency, delayed the announcement.

Eddie Jones has committed until the 2023 World Cup (Adam Davy/PA)

Jones insists he has the hunger to oversee another tilt at the sport's top prize and has not given up on his long-stated ambition: to finish the task of moulding a team for the ages.

"Having done the four years, I felt the project hasn't been finished yet," he said.

"At the end of the World Cup, you need to make an assessment of whether you can continue to develop the team and whether, as a coach, you can be effective. Therefore, the Six Nations for me was quite important. I wanted to make sure I could still have an effect on the team, still improve the team and I think I can do that so I think it's a good fit for me to continue.

“Having done the four years, I felt the project hasn't been finished yet”
- England head coach Eddie Jones

"We want to aspire to be a team that everyone remembers. I think we've played some good rugby over the last four years and we can play even better rugby in the next three years. That's the challenge ahead.

"I am excited about raising the standards again. We have a great team. We set out four years ago to be the best team in the world and unfortunately we missed that by 80 minutes.

"Now we want to be the team that is remembered as being the greatest team the game has ever seen. I never thought coming here four years ago I would be doing a second four years but the circumstances are right."

Re-engaging Jones represents a considerable act of forward planning by the Rugby Football Union at a time of great uncertainty for the sport, but with no doubts on either side the announcement has been pitched as a much-needed injection of positivity for fans.

RFU chief Bill Sweeney says he is pleased to be sharing some good news (PA)

Bill Sweeney, CEO of the RFU, said: "My thoughts and those of all of us at the RFU are with everyone impacted by COVID-19, both across the country at large but also within our own rugby union community.

"In exceptionally difficult times, we are pleased to be sharing some good news.

"We have announced Eddie's contract extension a few weeks later than planned as our focus was diverted to support the English rugby community during this difficult time, we are now turning our attention to developing plans to support the rebooting of rugby and a winning England team will provide a vital role in that.

"We are delighted that Eddie will continue as head coach to run England's campaign to take us to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. His record since joining speaks for itself and he has proven why he is one of the best coaches in world rugby."

Jones, who joined the RFU's executive group in taking a 25 per cent pay cut last week, is eagerly awaiting the moment when he and his side can help lift the gloom.

"Our problems are quite insignificant compared to the problems around the world so we have to keep everything in perspective," he said.

"When we get the opportunity to play, we want to play with passion, we want to play with pride and we want to give people something to enjoy. We are all looking forward to a time when we can get back to playing rugby and use the sport as a force for good in bringing people back together."

It seems increasingly unlikely that England will get the chance to tour Japan in July, with the Tokyo Olympics already postponed, and Sweeney revealed a decision is looming on that trip.

"We are in regular dialogue with World Rugby and a lot of the other unions as well around the world. This is a conversation we are having around the July tours," he said.

"We expect to be able to make a decision on that towards the end of April."

amp_article__395149 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-04-02 11:57:04:
html db last update - 2021-03-11 10:39:35 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Eddie Jones

Click here for more stories about England

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .