Rugby was invented in England. Making a climax in the almost 200-year history is therefore almost impossible. It is easier to determine a low point. In 2015, the English national rugby team retired for the first time in the preliminary round of a World Cup. Particularly dramatic: It was a tournament in their own country, in which England lost at the legendary London Twickenham Stadium against Wales and Australia. The motherland was shaken.
The story of the end of former national coach Stuart Lancaster marks the beginning of the story of the first non-Englishman in this position. Ironically, the Australian Eddie Jones was to help the rugby giant again. The rugby rivalry between England and Australia has existed since 1909, with seven teams out of a total of eight world championships. So also at this World Cup, when England beat the Australians in the quarterfinals.
A small part of the rivalry Jones has helped shape, 2003 he lost as head coach of the Australian "Wallabies" the World Cup final against England. As co-coach of the South African "Springboks" he succeeded in the 2007 final rematch. Jones was well known in England.
Odd Andersen / AFP
With good humor and a plan: England coach Eddie Jones
After the catastrophic preliminary round of 2015, Jones built a new team and led it only four months after his appointment to the Grand Slam at the Six Nations tournament, England won all five games for the first time in 13 years. Until the World Cup start in 2019, he formed a team full of young players, such as the two winger Sam Underhill and Tom Curry. It came together so well that England is the favorite this Saturday (10am, TV: ProsiebenMaxx, read all results and information here) in the World Cup final against South Africa.
A game with history
For Jones and England, it's a game against the past. Although only in the second half of South Africa's triumph twelve years ago, Jones's appointment as co-coach after the tournament was celebrated as a "masterpiece". Similarly, his commitment to England should be called, he should get the title this year.
That the odds are not bad, is directly related to the way Jones plays rugby. Already as an active player, they were better on the side of today's 59-year-old, said his former opponent Lance Walker the "Telegraph". "Playing against Eddie was like being plagued by an annoying fly, always buzzing, always talking." Impressive words of a man nicknamed "Butcher".
Jones' great strength as a coach is his flexibility. Although he has always had an idea of how he wants to play, he told the Guardian, "but it depends on which player you have." The big and tough English guys are right for the powerful power rugby Jones wants to play with them. His team is in the field. "They own the game."
Reproach from the mother
England does not reinvent itself under Jones, it finds itself. And this seems important in the face of today's torn society. Rugby offers the opportunity to influence English self-esteem, Jones said. "You have the opportunity to change people's lives through rugby, it's a gift, is not it?"
England is unstoppable
Australian Eddie Jones is the first foreign coach ever to coach the English national rugby team. In 2015 he took over the team, in 2019 he wants to lead it to the title.
Anthony Watson from Tonga's Sione Kalamafoni has a lot to offer here, but the start of the World Rugby Championship was not really tough for England: the 2003 World Champion started two clear wins over Tonga (35: 3) and the USA (45: 7) in the tournament.
Argentina were not a challenge for the English team either and in the end the players cheered on a relaxed 39:10 win in the third group match. The match against France, the strongest group opponent, was canceled because of the typhoon "Hagibis" and was considered a draw.
So the first endurance test in the quarterfinals waited: In Oita on the island of Kyushu the team competed against the eternal rival Australia.
But even the current Vice World Champion could not stop the English team. The Europeans won 40:16.
It became more difficult in the semifinal, where record world champion New Zealand received the team of Coach Jones with the traditional Haka.
In the quarterfinals New Zealand had overrun Ireland 46:14, the English team had to oppose them more.
Best player on the field was winger Maro Itoje, who led England to their first ever victory against New Zealand in a World Cup.
For New Zealand it was the first World Cup defeat since the quarter-finals of 2007. England drew by a 19: 7 in the final.
England will face South Africa in the final. In this game, the team of captain Owen Farrell is the favorite.
Due to the strong tournament performance so far "a bit of rugby fever has broken out in England", says Jones. The national team have the chance to inspire a whole country. "Mothers say to their children that they should play rugby," he said.
Jones' mother might soon recommend the opposite to her son. During a game against Argentina in 2017, television cameras caught Jones slipping the word "fuck" over his lips. He told the "Telegraph" that after the game his cell phone was ringing and his 93-year-old mother from Australia was at the other end of the line. "Do not curse," she told him.
If she announces this time, all England hopes that it is to congratulate.