England head coach Eddie Jones has said that he’s absolutely loving the criticism he is receiving after England suffered their sixth successive defeat to South Africa last weekend.
After losing the opening Test in Johannesburg earlier this month, England conceded the series to the Springboks in Bloemfontein last weekend after slumping to a 23-12 loss at the Toyota Stadium.
The loss marked Jones’ sixth straight defeat following consecutive losses to Scotland, France, Ireland and the Barbarians earlier this year but the England coach remains unfazed and claims that his squad are more upbeat than they ever have been before.
“No, s—, I’ve been doing it for long enough, I don’t need that,” replied Jones when asked if he needed any bolstering amid a difficult period for the national team.
“If someone decides that’s not good enough, then they decide. I don’t ask for the full support of [RFU chief executive] Steve Brown. I chat to him regularly.
“I’ve been through this many times. There are the great periods, the ones you look forward to, where everyone thinks you’re done and you have to find a way to win.
“When you are doing well, everyone pats you on the back and when you are not doing well, you’re pulling knives out of your back. That’s the reality of it. I’m enjoying it, loving it, absolutely loving it.”
"We've got 25 players sitting at home that aren't available for selection, these are the best players we've got"
Eddie Jones reacts to his side's sixth successive loss, as England fall to a second Test defeat vs South Africa#RSAvENG #bbcrugby pic.twitter.com/EG8BctP7to
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) June 16, 2018
The Rugby Football Union released a brief statement declaring that England’s embattled head coach retained their support with a spokeswoman from the union declaring: “The RFU supports Eddie Jones and his coaching team.”
The former Wallabies head coach is confident that his side can end their losing streak in the third and final Test in Cape Town this weekend and that England are not too far away from reversing their form.
“My job is to make the team win and it is not winning, but I have also got a job to do which is the process of coaching. I think I am doing that as well as I can. And the results will come,” Jones said.
“I haven’t had too many times when I have experienced this. And it’s tough. Sometimes you have to be very disciplined in the way you think.
“But we are only two to three per cent away from turning this around. And I know that. I absolutely know that.
“Just like when I took the team over that couldn’t make it out of their World Cup pool, this is the job of the coach, to find a way to turn it around.”
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