‘Eddie Jones is a bully and too many people accepted it’


‘Eddie Jones is a bully and too many people accepted it’

24 November 2024 6:58am GMT “He had a vision of greatness and he would brook no compromise. He chewed out subordinates…and told know-it-all pundits to take a hike. In an era of limits, he was the last great tyrant.” This was the New York Times’ reflection on the passing of Steve Jobs in 2011 but it could be applied word-for-word to Eddie Jones’ tumultuous tenure with England. His record as England’s most successful coach, with a win percentage of 73 per cent, is counterbalanced by a trail of alleged human suffering that senior figures at the Rugby Football Union are accused of wilfully turning a blind eye towards. Hence there will be a fair amount of uncomfortable shuffling among the plusher seats at Twickenham when Jones returns now in charge of Japan. “Everyone at the RFU knew what was going on,” one former coach told Telegraph Sport on condition of anonymity. “Eddie is a bully and too many people accepted it. No one stood up to him. How a governing body like the RFU – that is responsible for promoting the values of rugby union – can let go of what they did [Jones’ alleged behaviour] is an absolute scandal.” Jones is the most divisive figure in the history of English rugby. No one else engenders such extreme reactions. Visionary or vicious bully. Both can be true but when it comes to Jones there is very little middle ground. ‘Eddie set English rugby on a better course’ First the good. Three Six Nations titles, including a first Grand Slam since 2003; a record-equalling 18 consecutive victories and reaching the 2019 World Cup final. Perhaps just as important as the silverware was the fact that Jones gave England their swagger back, according to former captain Dylan Hartley. “I genuinely believe that he changed the culture of English rugby,” Hartley told Telegraph Sport. “It needed a f---ing kick up the a---. It needed a psychological boot up the a---. It needed a physical boot up the a---. It needed a tactical one. Eddie set English rugby on a better course.” Very few players dispute Jones’ coaching ability. The debate is whether the ends justified the means. Danny Care, by way of his autobiography, was the first senior English player to articulate what multiple sources had claimed for years: that Jones fostered a toxic environment in which individuals were routinely humiliated in public. “It was like living in a dictatorship,” Care writes. “Remember what it felt like when someone was being bullied at school and you were just glad it wasn’t you? That was the vibe.” ‘Like the bully in the playground’ Since the release of Everything Happens for a Reason, a host of players including Ben Youngs, Jonny May and Hartley have lined up to defend Jones and his methods. If the Australian was such a bully why does Care appear on an island with his allegations? Firstly, the majority of staff who left under Jones would sign a non-disclosure agreement which would prohibit them going on the record with allegations. Secondly, those who were not covered by NDAs live in fear that of being ostracised by the industry in which Jones has many tentacles. Would Care have come forward without the incentive of a publishing advance? Probably not and thus the RFU and Jones can say it is only one individual making these claims. Equally the example of Neal Hatley, who has followed him from England to Australia and now Japan, shows that not all coaches live in complete fear of Jones. “I think you vote with your feet,” Hatley said. “This is the third time that I have had an opportunity to work with him and it is the third time I jumped at it.” Yet Care’s testimony of the way that Jones would mercilessly target individuals such as prop Kieran Brookes is endorsed by multiple sources. “It is like the bully in the playground where you are just relieved it’s not you,” one former support staff member said. “What Danny has written about not wanting to be picked on, I could not agree with more,” a former coach said.