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Eddie Jones has responded to England\u2019s World Cup final defeat by South Africa by admitting the current team is \u201cfinished\u201d.<\/p>\nEddie Jones has responded to England\u2019s World Cup final defeat by South Africa by admitting the current team is \u201cfinished\u201d.<\/p>\n
A 32-12 rout in Yokohama on Saturday crushed the nation\u2019s hopes of lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy for the second time after expectations had been raised by emphatic victories over Australia and New Zealand in the previous rounds.<\/p>\n
Jones is contracted to remain England head coach until 2021 and the Rugby Football Union is expected to offer fresh terms that will take him to the next World Cup in France.<\/p>\n
But a number of the 31-man squad taken to Japan are to be jettisoned for next year\u2019s Six Nations as Jones begins rebuilding for the next assault on the global stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell you what happens to teams \u2013 they evolve,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome guys will lose desire, some guys will lose fitness, some guys will get injuries, and there\u2019ll be young guys come through. So this team is finished now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be a new team made \u2013 we\u2019ll make a new team for the Six Nations and that new team for the Six Nations will be the basis of going to the next World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ll have them for the first two years. And you\u2019re so lucky because you\u2019ve got me for another two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the build-up to the final Jones spoke about the importance of not \u201cinventing shadows\u201d, but as the dust began to settle on a deflating performance against South Africa that concluded an otherwise outstanding World Cup, he fell into that trap himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so proud of the players, the way they\u2019ve prepared, the way they\u2019ve worked,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re great ambassadors for the sport and great ambassadors for England and I\u2019m disappointed there\u2019s such a negative attitude about our performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve taken a team that couldn\u2019t get out of the pool at the last World Cup and got beaten in the final, but there\u2019s all this negativity about their performance. I find it incredible, I find it incredible.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember three weeks ago I was going to get the sack. There was going to be blood on the walls at Twickenham.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we finished ahead of 18 other teams. We weren\u2019t good enough against South Africa, we weren\u2019t good enough. Sorry. I apologize. What do you want me to say?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want me to say? Tell me what you want me to say. We weren\u2019t good enough, we got beaten by a better team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been coaching 23 years, it happens periodically. You think you\u2019ve got a team right and ready to go and for some reason they don\u2019t perform to the level you expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy, I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve spoken to a lot of experienced coaches about it and everyone says the same thing, you just don\u2019t know. You\u2019re better off just putting that game to the side and get on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The foundations for England\u2019s defeat were laid by an overwhelmed scrum that conceded six penalties in one of the bleakest days for a traditional source of Red Rose strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sport. We\u2019ve got 23 individuals, they\u2019ve got 23 individuals and the psychological level of teams is never constant. They are always changing. And we got caught,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey won a significant area of the game which was the scrum which tended to trickle down into the rest of the game and then you are battling to get on the front foot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t get out of it. We tried to break it and sometimes you lose your wicket, which happened. Full credit to South Africa they scrummed well and that\u2019s the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if you can\u2019t get on the front foot then you look like a team that lacks ideas, lacks energy, looks tired. All those things come into play.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is something wasn\u2019t right and we couldn\u2019t fix it on the field. And that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n