My reign will have been a failure if England aren’t the best in the world, says head coach Eddie Jones
Head coach Eddie Jones insists he will have failed if he does not transform England into the best Test side in the world.
The Australian, appointed in November, picked up the pieces from last autumn’s harrowing World Cup showing and promptly guided England to their first Six Nations grand slam since 2003 in March.
England are ranked fourth in the world rankings and when asked if anything other than reaching No1 represented failure, Jones said: “100 per cent. The reason the RFU [Rugby Football Union] appointed me is to change the England national team.
“The resources and the number of players here demands that England should be No1. If I look at England and look at what they have then there is no reason why we can’t be No1, and that is what we should be aiming for.”
To achieve that objective, England will have to consistently dispatch southern hemisphere opposition, while opportunity knocks to kickstart that process next month during their three-Test tour of Australia.
England have won just three of 17 Tests played against the Wallabies in Australia, losing 14, although Jones believes the Red Rose are capable of causing ructions Down Under.
“It is obviously a difficult tour but we want to take the next step up,” he added. “We will give it everything we have got on tour. We need to prepare well and play good rugby in Australia.”