Warren Gatland, the head coach of Wales, thinks that Eddie Jones’ management philosophy benefits teams in the short term but does not necessarily result in long-term success.
On Sunday, the two head coaches will face each other in Lyon when the Welsh take on Australia in a key Rugby World Cup match.
As he demonstrated when in command of the England squad, Jones has a habit of making a quick and significant difference upon beginning a new coaching journey.
Swift Achievement for the England Rugby Team
They won back-to-back Six Nations championships in 2016 and 2017, and they even advanced to the World Cup final in 2019.
But things only got worse from there, and it ended with Jones getting fired at the end of 2022 following a disappointing two-year period.
“There is no doubt that Eddie is very experienced and savvy, and, with England, he had the luxury of coaching a team that had so many more resources and players available to him,” Gatland penned an article in his column for The Telegraph.
“We, in contrast, have had to fight for everything we have achieved and titles we have won, and that underdog mentality has been a positive for us: everything has been earned, nothing has been given to us.
“I am also a very loyal person in terms of my staff and my players. I am never going to throw someone under the bus. If you perform, I will back you.
“A big part of the success that I have had as a coach is developing players over some time and creating an environment that they want to be part of.
“I am not sure Eddie has always had the same philosophy. He has a significant turnover in coaches and staff and can only presume that he demands high standards and pushes people to limits they are not prepared to go to – and either they move on, or they are moved on.
“I guess there is a positive and negative to that approach, in that it stops people becoming complacent and can have a short-term impact.
“But there is no doubt in the past, he has gone into environments and had success with the initial reaction from the group, but then it appears to have a limited time frame because of how hard he pushes the players and staff and coping with that pressure.”
Gatland, the manager of Wales, also discussed both his and Jones’ propensity for throwing “verbal grenades” at the media before important matches.
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Eddie Jones Brought About a Significant Change
“At the time he took charge of England in 2016, I was probably the only head coach in the Six Nations with the reputation of throwing verbal grenades in the build-up to matches. When Eddie arrived, that all changed,” he added.
“I can remember standing behind him as we were both walking into a room of journalists at the launch of the Six Nations press conference and said: ‘Come on, Eddie, don’t let me down, get out there and throw some grenades!’ He turned to me with a smile and said: ‘I will wait for you to go first.’
“It was a bit of fun. When I have been out on social occasions with him, I have always found him to be good company. But we are involved in professional sports, so there is a sense of great rivalry. We are both competitive people and desperately want to beat the opposition.
“We also both know that the pantomime knock-about not only creates interest in the game but the use of verbal grenades can also be used either to take the pressure off the players or send a message to them or the opposition.
“I think when Eddie got the Wallabies job, part of his remit was to generate publicity for rugby union in Australia.
“Some of his recent feuds with the Australian media have created controversy and a lot of headlines, but the flip side is that he has got people talking about rugby in the country. People are engaged and interested in what is going on.”
