Former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones, talking to rugby365, has dismissed defending champions England as realistic Rugby World Cup 2007 contenders.
“I can’t see them doing well,” said Jones, currently assisting the Boks with their World Cup preparations.
“This World Cup was always going to be difficult for them. They had such a good side for three or four years.
“However, when you win a World Cup it generally means that most of your players are at their peak. The reality of the situation is that after a peak follows a trough and that’s what’s happened.
“Yes, they’ve got a mixture of some very good older players, who are probably not as good as they were four years ago, and their younger players who are just too young.
“Young guys aren’t going to come through in the World Cup – not at 20. It’s very rare for a young guy at 20 to be a consistent matchwinner. They can put in a good performance here and there, but not consistently.
“What you need in the World Cup is 18 to 20 players who you know you are going to get a good performance out of all the time… that’s what makes good sides.
“England just haven’t got that balance right.
“Australia has always been a little bit ahead in terms of development and we’re seeing that. However, Australia is in a similar situation.
“If a Gregan, or a Larkham, or a Giteau, or a Mortlock gets injured, then you put an enormous dent in the Australian side.
“You’ve got your top three teams and underneath that there is realistically a three or four per cent difference between being in the top three and not being in the top three.
“The difference between the top three sides, here you are literally talking one or two per cent. If every player improves half a per cent, then you have a seven-and-a-half per cent increase in your team.
“Obviously that doesn’t happen, but if you can improve just those tiny little things, then the overall improvement is just enormous.
“It has been clearly shown up by New Zealand, who are the best side in the world. They were probably four or five per cent better than anyone else in recent years and now at the moment they are probably about two per cent better than anyone else.
“Realistically, how that transfers on the field, is that if they’re not at their best and the other side plays a little above their best, then they get beaten.
“Previously, in that situation, where they were four or five per cent better than anyone else, they would still win the Test and that’s what we’ve seen over the last few years.
“The key is to sustain it by adding little bits and pieces here and there,” concluded Jones.
Very technical is our Eddie 😀