Eddie Jones: Tyrant or perfectionist?

Gone but not forgotten, the spectre of Eddie Jones still haunts – and fascinates – the two nations where he both hit the heights and plumbed the depths.

While England and Australia may have long sailed on from their respective choppy seas when Jones was at the helm, it says much about the fascination that still surrounds him that he remained on the news agenda at the Wallabies’ first news conference before Saturday’s Test against their old rivals at Twickenham.

Back at Jones’s old Teddington training ground haunt, the Wallabies pair of Samu Kerevi and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto were, naturally, more enthused about singing the praises of their new coach Joe Schmidt.

Yet there was still time for the subject of Jones’s controversial regimes to crop up a year after he resigned from the Wallabies and a couple of years after he was sacked by England.

That was because, in Danny Care’s new autobiography, the former England scrumhalf has reignited memories of Jones, suggesting that during the seven-year reign under the Aussie “everyone was bloody terrified of him” and that he ruled by fear.

Care never hid his admiration for Jones as coach, though, and Kerevi was happy to jump to the defence of the 64-year-old, who’s now in his second spell in charge of Japan after his calamitous second crack with the Wallabies.

(Article continues below the Samu Kerevi and lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto media briefing….)

“I wouldn’t say terrifying,” shrugged Kerevi, when asked about life under Jones.

“I think it’s how you take it.

“I grew up in a different culture to what the game is now.

“The pursuit of excellence puts pressure on everyone, and I think that’s just what Eddie is like.

“I’ve got a good relationship with Eddie.

“I think his pressure was on not just the players, but the staff.

“I think that’s probably what Danny Care’s talking about.

“But it’s how you receive it.

“Do you thrive under it? I guess for us, we didn’t get the results last year with Eddie.

“But our focus now is on Joe, and the team this year. So I wish Eddie all the best.”

“As players, it’s been unreal.

“He’s got the runs on the board and his resume shows the success that he’s had as a coach and the influence that he can have on teams,” said the lock.

“And he’s had that influence on us this year.

“I think his attention to detail around the game, the way he harps on the importance of the fundamentals and the basic skills that we need to do well to become a successful team, is something that’s been driven quite hard.

“I think for boys that have been involved previously, they’ll tell you that it’s been a fresh breath of air here for everyone involved, and we’re only going to get better and thrive under someone like Joe.”

And knowing their very different personalities, presumably, it was a bit easier to focus on the match under Schmidt with the New Zealander being just that bit quieter during his media duties.

“What do you reckon?” said Salakaia-Loto, with a wry smile.