Rugby World Cup: Why Eddie Jones is still motivated by loss to England in 2003 final
The Wallabies’ loss to England in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final still haunts Eddie Jones, but as he readies his adopted country for the decider against the Springboks, he can see the bigger picture.
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Even as he stands on the cusp of one of coaching’s greatest redemptions, Eddie Jones still can’t forget about the one that got away.
Sixteen years later, Jones remains haunted by Australia’s heartbreaking loss to England in the 2003 World Cup final.
Beaten by a Jonny Wilkinson field goal in the last minute of extra time, Jones has never got over that loss and missing out on the chance to redeem himself with his homeland.
Opening up for the first time about the devastating personal impact that loss had on him, Jones said it took him four years just to even realise he was still depressed and in shock about the result.
“I didn’t realise what an effect it had on me until possibly 2007. You think everything is alright but you lose a World Cup final and it’s a difficult experience,” he said.
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“I’ve experienced both and I know the difference you feel and if you don’t reflect really well, which I didn’t after the last World Cup, then you carry some things with you that aren’t always positive.
SEE BELOW FOR FIVE KEYS TO DECIDING THE WORLD CUP FINAL
“They can be negative and they have an effect on how you approach your job.”
Jones was so desperate to make amends that he lost sight of what made him such a great coach in the first place, then he lost his job in 2005.
Crushed by his sacking and the bitter fallout that ensued, Jones has since gone on establish himself as one of the World Cups greatest coaching success stories, but with other countries, not his homeland.
He was an assistant to the South African team that won the title in 2007 then he masterminded the greatest upset in the tournament’s history when Japan beat the Springboks in the pool stages in 2015.
And now he’s taken England to Saturday night’s final in Yokohama, against South Africa.
Should England win, Jones will be revered as a coaching genius and enjoy all the accolades that will come from that, but it will never heal his heartache, even though he acknowledges it was the lessons he learnt from 2003 that has made him the best coach in the world today.
“I think I was just too desperate to win and you can’t be desperate for things.
You’ve got to have the will to prepare to win, that’s the difference and it takes time sometimes,” he said.
“After you lose a World Cup you want it to happen like that, because you want to get rid of that memory and it doesn’t happen like that.
“You’ve got to work again and build it up. Sometimes you’re not as patient building it up.
“I think it happens with players as well. If you’ve experienced a significant trauma in your sport, it takes time to get over it.”
Jones may yet get another chance with the Wallabies now that the job is open again but for now his only focus is on winning with England..
“How fantastic is it for a young bunch of guys we have? Every sporting person out there is looking at the game. It’s the biggest sporting event on at that time. Saturday night is the biggest sporting event in the world and our players get to play in that arena,” he said.
“They can inspire a whole country now, they can inspire a sporting community. That’s the opportunity they’ve got and all the messages that we’ve seen back in England at the moment is that there’s a bit of a rugby fever going on, so now mums are telling kids ‘play rugby’.
“It changes how the country feels about itself for a period of time – it might change at the next general election – but for a period of time it changes how people feel about themselves and that’s the greatest joy.
“If I look back at Japan and look at the growth of rugby in Japan from what we did in 2015, it’s spectacular. People in Japan love rugby now, they didn’t before, they love the game. You’ve got this opportunity to change people’s lives through the ability to play rugby, and it’s a gift isn’t it?”
FIVE KEYS TO DECIDING THE WORLD CUP FINAL
ATTACK
As Eddie Jones keeps telling his players, England’s best path to success is to play without fear.
South Africa have made no secret of the fact they are going to rely heavily on their enormous forward pack while peppering the English with box kicks.
So while the Springboks try to slow the game down, England have to hold their nerve and be brave enough to play the game at pace and attack out wide as they did against Australia and New Zealand.
DEFENCE
History shows that goalkicking more often than not plays the decisive role in deciding World Cup finals. South Africa didn’t score a single try in either of their two previous World Cup final wins while everyone in Australia knows Jonny Wilkinson’s boot got England home in the 2003 final. South Africa (Handre Pollard) and England (Owen Farrell) both have lethal kickers so discipline is going to be paramount for each team.
BREAKDOWN
Like every Test match, the breakdown is going to be critical and this is the one area where England seem to have the biggest advantage. As the Wallabies and All Blacks found out the hard way, England’s loose forwards Sam Underhill and Tom Curry are the best in the business right now so South Africa will have to stop them or the game will be lost.
DANGERMEN
The biggest danger to England is the smallest man on the South African team - the halfback Faf de Klerk. Unmissable with his long blond hair, he has been a constant menace to every opponent with his clever kicks and sniping runs. South Africa’s missionis to stop England’s giant lock Maro Itoje. As strong as an ox, his ability to steal opposition ball both at set pieces andin the loose has created headaches for everyone.
SQUAD
International rugby stopped being a 15-man game a long time ago so the reserves now play as big a role as any of the starters. This is where the game comes down to a battle of coaching because whoever uses their 23 man squad the best will finish the game stronger and no one has done that better in this World Cup than Eddie Jones.
- Julian Linden