Have rugby’s super-coaches stunted the growth of those following them? – The Guardian

Posted: November 20, 2019 at 5:51 am


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It is hard to believe but somewhere out there is a well-known rugby coach without a new book out. It is tempting to imagine Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland duelling with inky quills at dawn, going at it while their faithful ghostwriters hold the blotting paper. Both protagonists are still proudly old school at heart, having learned their trade long before the arrival of the internet.

Publish and be damned with faint praise is the usual endgame with such post-World Cup autobiographies but both Jones and Gatland have gone in refreshingly hard and low. The former has been particularly blunt about his regard or lack of it for English club rugby. I often wonder Is it ever going to change? writes Jones in My Life and Rugby, bemoaning the widespread lack of imagination and skill and the stodgy games he says he watches week after week. He also feels English coaches are more reactive than proactive, held back by a reticence he still struggles to get his head around.

This would be salty enough if Jones was moving on from his head coach role, let alone staying put for, in theory, another two years or more. The subjects of his criticism will point out this is the man who lasted only a short time at Saracens over a decade ago and has repeatedly said that changing English club rugby is not his job. This same suspect breeding ground has just supplied him with players good enough to trounce the All Blacks. Or was that act of alchemy entirely down to the wise-cracking wizard of Oz?

Had England conquered the world Jones would, of course, now be safely lecturing everyone from the upper slopes of Mount Olympus. As it is, he can now expect a coolish welcome next time he pops down to certain clubs. His bemusement about aspects of the English psyche after four years in the job also begs another important question: when he departs where is the ready-made conveyor belt of homegrown talent queuing up to replace him? The day after the World Cup final in Tokyo I asked Bill Sweeney, the Rugby Football Unions chief executive, if he had seen any sign of one. Its not there at the moment, it doesnt exist and its something we need to build in, acknowledged Sweeney, still relatively new in his post. Having a good system of English coaches going through that pipeline would be an objective.

It would be a more widely-reported scandal if there was not so much happening on planet rugby at the moment. Since the departure of Stuart Lancaster in 2015 all the Twickenham developmental pathways he helped to put in place have been either dismantled or detonated. Jones has relied largely on short-term hirings or old mates, with the exception of the loyal Steve Borthwick and Neal Hatley. Hatley is off back to Bath and Borthwick has yet to disclose his future plans. If either of them have ambitions to become a future England head coach they hide it well.

This state of affairs seemed to vex Jones as much as anyone else. He writes about wanting unnamed assistant coaches to bring something different to the table, rather than merely following orders. If coaches are not showing initiative in preparation, how can you expect the players to? It is a fair point, although questioning the methods of experienced coaches such as Jones, Gatland, Steve Hansen and Joe Schmidt is not the easiest of tasks.

Could it even be that the mightiest trees in the rugby coaching forest have been around so long that, in places, they have inadvertently stunted the growth of those looking to follow them? Look at Australia, once a repository of the sharpest coaching minds in the game and now reportedly hoping to import the Glasgow-based New Zealander Dave Rennie to provide a much-needed tactical jolt. Look at New Zealand itself where the hugely successful reign of Hansen and, before him, Sir Graham Henry appears to have made several contenders think twice about succeeding them.

The choice now appears to be between Hansens assistant Ian Foster and the Crusaders Scott Robertson, with a puff of black smoke from NZ Rugbys chimneys now officially due next month. Both would involve a slight punt given neither has previously been head coach of any other senior national side but appointing the popular, energetic Robertson, 45, might just be more in touch with the rugby zeitgeist.

The game moves relentlessly onwards and the giant coaching box redwoods of yore are thinning out. Jones has just been outflanked in a World Cup final by a coach, Rassie Erasmus, who, at 47, is 12 years his junior. Jacques Nienaber, Erasmuss heir apparent as Springbok head coach, is the same age, while Ireland have plumped for the 44-year-old Andy Farrell as Schmidts successor. Jamie Joseph, who is staying to continue his impressive work with Japan, turns 50 this week. Along with Robertson, these are all well-travelled individuals with their prime coaching years still ahead of them.

Interestingly, of this new wave, Robertson and Rennie have both previously coached the New Zealand U20 side. In England that role remains vacant but should be filled by a candidate with the potential to progress to the senior tracksuit one day. Ben Ryan (48) would, as ever, be an enlightened option while Alex Sanderson at Saracens has only just turned 40 and Northamptons highly-rated attack coach Sam Vesty is 37. The tactically-sharp Will Greenwood, whose father Dick coached England in the 1980s, might be another left-field candidate. Anything to inject some fresh thinking as the world of top-level coaching, after so many years of familiar voices, prepares to turn the page.

The fine Australian centre Samu Kerevi says he was disappointed to be quoted out of context as being keen to play for Fiji, rather than the Wallabies, at the 2023 World Cup. Despite the fact the Wallaby vice-captain has just signed a three-year contract to play in Japan, which will make him ineligible for the Wallabies as the rules currently stand, he has made it clear he was just having a bit of a laugh at a charity lunch in Fiji. The story, however, has stirred the debate as to whether eligible players no longer required by major unions could be made available to play for smaller nations for which they also qualify after a suitable stand-down period. As a means of strengthening Pacific Island teams it has clear merit; whether their rivals, for that reason, will ever agree to vote it through remains as doubtful as ever.

One suspects Saracens will have several of their bigger names back for Saturdays European Champions Cup game against Ospreys, all hoping to restore some momentum following a chastening few days. At some stage a final decision will have to be made about which competition to prioritise after being deducted 35 league points but simply getting back up and running, in front of their own supporters, will be enough for now. The road ahead will be long and hard and, psychologically, it starts this weekend.

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Have rugby's super-coaches stunted the growth of those following them? - The Guardian

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