England's humbling defeat to South Africa marked end of Eddie Jones' tenure

18 October 2023 , 07:00

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Defeat to South Africa at Twickenham would spell the end for Eddie Jones

England will renew their rivalry with South Africa on Saturday night, but the last time they squared off it proved to be Eddie Jones' last time in the coaching box.

A 27-13 defeat at Twickenham in November 2022, greeted by boos in south west London at full-time, proved to be the end for the Australian, who was sacked just weeks later - less than a year out from the World Cup. England's form had nosedived and the world champions gave their opponents a lesson.

Jones had overseen a year that involved six losses in 12 Tests - England's worst run for 14 years - with their Six Nations performance also leaving plenty of room for improvement. The 63-year-old had overseen a record-equalling winning run when he arrived, but losses had become all too regular and he took responsibility in what would be his final defeat.

The Australian told Amazon Prime: "We are disappointed we didn't play how we wanted to. South Africa do things to you that are some times difficult to deal with. We didn't land a shot like we wanted to. You have to win contests and we didn't win in the air or the set-piece, so it's hard to get in the game.

"We lost two of the key contests but we will improve in those areas. Results tell you everything and that is what we are judged by but I feel like there is growth in the team, which we have seen, but wasn't evident today."

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England made the final in Japan four years ago, dethroning New Zealand en route, before they were outplayed by South Africa. Jones had always maintained he should be judged on his performances at the tournament, with his next assessment less than 12 months away.

England were outclassed by the world champions less than a year ago

The RFU had seen a successful side struggle to come back after their World Cup loss but their Aussie head coach believed in the process, even if his superiors didn't as they opted to replace him with Steve Borthwick, who had served as England's assistant.

Jones said, without knowing he wouldn't be the man leading England in France: "I think about where we are going towards a World Cup. Obviously we want to win games and be successful but are we moving in the right direction? Yes we are. I have coached for a number of years and I believe I can coach well. People will say what they say, and there are ups and downs in sport but we didn't play well today and I apologise for that, it's entirely my fault."

He added: "Obviously on results, we are not happy but I feel like we are building a really good base to have a really good go at the World Cup, a really good go. A number of young players got great experience today and they'll come back better players for that.

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"We've got other players coming back to form, some of our more senior players and we're not far away. We need to develop consistently. Test match rugby is all about consistency."

England failed to enjoy any such new manager bounce, winning just two of their five Six Nations games in 2023, the same number as they year before. Despite terrible preparation though they remain the only unbeaten team still at the World Cup with South Africa lying between them and the final.

The holders saw off hosts France in an epic encounter in Paris on Sunday night and have beaten England in their last two World Cup encounters - 2007 and 2019 - with their last loss coming in the pool stages of the 2003 tournament, which England went on to win.

Samuel Meade