EDDIE JONES

EDDIE JONES has a big smile on his face as he settles himself into a sun-dappled corner of Pennyhill Park, where he has an office even when the England squad are not in camp. After a weekend of travelling around the country to watch the first matches of the restarted Gallagher Premiership season, it’s clear he is delighted rugby is back – as are we all. Club rugby is now in full swing and Internationals will return next month, with Saturday 31 October the next big date circled on Jones’s calendar for that is when England will finally complete their Six Nations campaign against Italy. For now, though, Jones gives his thoughts on the current state of the game…

Rugby World: What do you get from seeing a game live that you can’t from watching on TV?

Eddie Jones: As national coach, I’m going to games to watch players. I look to see how they react to situations, how they relate to other players, what they do off the ball. Most of the vision is about on the ball and I want to see what players are doing off the ball. Even if you look at the best players in the world, 90% of what they do is off the ball.

RW: Is it interesting hearing the players communicate with no fans in stadiums at the moment?

EJ: 100%. It’s really evident. In the Northampton-Wasps game, the difference in the level of communication between the two teams… A couple of players were quite boisterous.

I always look back to the Champions League last year, Liverpool v Barcelona. In football you’re so close to the players you can see who is talking and who isn’t. Virgil van Dijk compared to everyone else was a real captain, leading and gesticulating. Barcelona were going one,