Chris Robshaw believes Eddie Jones will probably be decided to avenge his sacking by England and predicts Australia will profit from a direct uplift following his appointment as their head coach.
Jones has taken cost of the Wallabies a month after being dismissed by the Rugby Football Union, organising the engaging prospect of him plotting his former employers’ down fall on the World Cup in October.
The previous rivals are on a quarter-final collision course with England’s worst nightmare being a defeat masterminded by the person who had been contracted to cause them to France 2023 till a dismal autumn introduced concerning the finish of his seven-year reign.
Former crimson rose skipper Robshaw performed underneath Jones from 2016 to 2018 and is aware of his appointment instantly makes Australia extra formidable opponents.
“We’ve seen Eddie’s comments that Australia might see England in the quarter-finals – and give a little smirk! You always want to get one over your former team,” Robshaw stated.
“I’m pretty sure Eddie will have a big impact. When any good coach goes into a different set-up it’s bad news if it’s not your team. Warren Gatland going back to Wales makes them tougher opposition straight away.
“When teams aren’t in form and they get a coach of excellent quality, then of course it makes them tougher opposition.
“When Eddie was in charge and England played Australia, we always knew it was a big game because of his history with Australia.
“But there was also the insight he had on the Australian players, the way they do things, their culture. Now he’s got that first hand from an England point of view.”
Although England had entered a deep malaise within the ultimate throws of Jones’ reign, profitable simply 5 of their 12 Tests final yr, the early days had been a surprising success.
Inheriting a group that had crashed to a gaggle exit on the 2015 World Cup, he delivered a Grand Slam and sequence whitewash of Australia as a part of record-equalling 18-Test run.
It was proof of his ability to remodel a group’s fortunes within the quick time period and Robshaw was amongst these to learn from his means to push the appropriate buttons.
“It’s Eddie mentality. He was better than any coach I have worked in terms of his man management,” Robshaw stated.
“And it wasn’t always the big things, it was the little things like interacting with everyone every single morning in the breakfast room – going around all the tables.
“He would treat all the players differently. With someone like myself he was always very honest, with someone like James Haskell they would always take the mick out of each other. He interacted with the person rather than just the rugby player.
“For Australia, he will definitely have that ability to shake them up because they have good players but they are just low in confidence.
“They had a tough autumn series over here. The writing has been on the wall that at some point he would go back to that Australia job.
“He’s a proud Australian, he’s got a lot of history and heritage there. It’s just happened a bit sooner than most had thought.”
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