A 2-1 series win for England over Australia underlined why RFU chief exeuctive Bill Sweeney believes Eddie Jones is the right coach to lead England at next year’s Rugby World Cup; Sweeney also praised Luther Burrell for speaking out about his experiences of racism in the sport
Last Updated: 21/07/22 4:43pm
Bill Sweeney has backed Eddie Jones to lead England at the 2023 Rugby World Cup
Bill Sweeney believes Eddie Jones’ record against Southern Hemisphere teams makes him the right coach to lead England into the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Rumours had swirled around the future on Jones’ position as England head coach following a disappointing Six Nations campaign. England finished a distant third behind champions France and second-placed Ireland.
But the recent 2-1 series win over Australia has eased the pressure on the 62-year-old and RFU chief executive.
Sweeney sees that success as another sign of why Jones will be at the helm for the next global gathering in France in just over a year’s time.
“His contract is there through to ’23,” Sweeney told Sky Sports News. “To win a World Cup, we believe you’ve got to beat three or four Southern Hemisphere sides and against Southern Hemisphere teams he’s got a win ratio with us of 82 per cent, which is by far the highest ever for England.
“He knows how to play Southern Hemisphere teams, so that’s important. I know it’s been a tough journey and the fans have been frustrated on occasion.
“He’s very innovative, he’s very creative and he knows how to go into a World Cup, but he also wants to win the Six Nations.
“If you look at the camaraderie in the squad, those players are playing for each other, but they’re also playing for him, and we’ve got a really good bond and spirit in that squad.”
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Highlights of the third and final Test between Australia and England, in Sydney.
Jones, who guided England to knock-out stage wins over Australia and New Zealand before going down 32-12 to South Africa in the 2019 World Cup final, has already stated his intention to leave his role following next year’s tournament.
Succession planning for the Australian’s departure has been ongoing since May 2019, with former England international Nigel Redman overseeing that. The hope is to announce the new head coach within the next year.
Although it has not been plain sailing following that run to the final in Japan three years ago, Sweeney is pleased with how the England team are evolving under Jones as they aim to go one better this time around.
“I’d say we’re on track for what we from 2019 we wanted to do,” Sweeney said. “Certain things around leadership and decision-making on the field, we always felt there could be a group of players coming through who would give us a real difference and a real spark.
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England head coach Eddie Jones says that his young team’s series win over Australia is a positive step.
“If we’ve got all of our players available and we’re making improvements in the areas we want to improve in, we’re on track.”
Sweeney: Good Burrell is speaking up on experiences of racism
Sweeney revealed he has held meetings with Luther Burrell since the former England centre detailed the experiences of racism he has faced in rugby union.
The 32-year-old met with Sweeney, Premiership Rugby Limited and the Rugby Players Association at Twickenham in the immediate aftermath of his Mail On Sunday interview in June in which he opened up on incidents which had occurred during his time in the sport.
The pair have spoken since too and Sweeney is determined to tackle the problems to show the sport is open to all.
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Former England rugby player Luther Burrell says he wants to influence the next generation of players to speak out against racism.
“We met him initially along with PRL and the RPA down here the week the story broke, and he was really open and really transparent,” Sweeney said. “It’s good he’s speaking up so we can really understand the issue in more detail.
“I think it’s important to go out to the game and create an environment where people can share their experiences, and we can get our arms around what is the extent of this issue and how we manage it.
“Without pre-empting anything, I think a lot is going to be around education. I think behaviour and narratives maybe people thought were okay 10 or 15 years ago were acceptable are no longer acceptable, so it’s how we make sure people are aware of that.
“We don’t feel threatened by it, we want to make our game open to all and more diverse.”