Former England star Jason Robinson believes the RFU got it all wrong when they sacked former boss Eddie Jones back in December.
Fondly known as ‘Billy Whizz’ Jason’s decorated career spanned more than 20-years, first in league with the record-breaking Wigan side before switching codes to union which saw him lift the 2003 Rugby World Cup, scoring a try in the thrilling final against Australia.
Speaking on the In The Zone podcast, Robinson said: “England are going through a transitional period,
“Eddie Jones did some great things with England, look at the 2015 World Cup and how that was an absolute disaster, Eddie Jones came in and transformed the team. All of a sudden, we’re now going through another transition.
” For me, my opinion is that Eddie [Jones] needed to go before, or, he needed to stay until after the World Cup, he’s got a 90% win record in World Cups, but that said, Borthwick has come in and it all takes time. It takes time for them as coaches coming from a club, it’s completely different.
“Everybody is writing Australia off. They have a young team and have left out some of the older and experienced players. Eddie Jones is batting off pressure left, right and centre. He doesn’t care about anything! The dark horses will be a team that has been written off, like Australia, who can find form.”
The significance of being England’s first black captain only hit me recently when players said they play rugby because of me
He said: “To get the captain’s armband and to lead out your country was just amazing and one of the greatest feelings you can have as a player. It’s only over recent years that I’ve realised the significance because some players that are playing have come to me and said ‘because we saw you, we thought we could’. You look at the 2003 team, I was the only black guy on the team, in terms of the team itself, it didn’t make a difference because I was just one of the boys.
“The reality is that there’s a lot of people on the outside thinking ‘I can relate to him’, whether it’s how I look because I’m a black man, or because I’m from the north, or I don’t sound like everyone else and I realise it’s impacted a lot more people than I ever thought.
“The pressure of just being a captain was there. When I was asked to do it, I didn’t say yes straight away, I thought ‘I just need to think about this’. Everything I do, I want to do well, and if I can’t do it well, I don’t want to be in a position where people are looking at me and I can’t deliver what’s needed to be delivered.
“Being a captain is not just about flipping a coin before the game starts, everything changes. I said yes to England and it only became more significant that I was the first men’s black captain when I finished. I just wanted to do a good job and I got the captaincy at a really difficult time. A lot of players retired, management left and it was a rebuilding phase and all of a sudden I’ve got the armband and we’re going through this transitional period. It was a time I really enjoyed, and looking back now, even me playing for England Rugby Union was a massive deal especially from where I came from. “
This is Ireland’s best chance of a World Cup title
He said: “Ireland have a poor record in World Cups and this is potentially going to be the biggest one in their history and they deserve to do well. They are playing some great rugby. Watching them go to New Zealand in a three-Test series, go down in the first one and get absolutely battered, to turn it around to win the second and third, I can’t tell you how high my respect for that is because I know how hard it is to go out to New Zealand and scrape a result, nevermind do it back-to-back.
“Ireland are in a great place at the moment and there’s an expectation on them, it’s alright winning Six Nations and doing that, the World Cup is another level of pressure and only time will tell if they can handle that.
“It’s amazing to see what has happened to Irish rugby over the last few years. It’s very interesting to me having played with Andy [Farrell] in the 90s at Wigan, because I know the type of character he is. If you’re under a coach that has been there and done it and has dealt with the pressures. There’s so much respect there to start with. The attention to detail and being the best you can be, I can’t think of a better person to be in there and get that out of the team, and it’s shown in the way that they perform. Ireland are now the number one team in the world. I think him being there has added to Ireland. “
If I was playing now, I’d get two players sent off each game
He said: “I now feel sorry for the big and tall guys because the laws about hitting lower are becoming harder and harder. If somebody is leading with their head, where are you going to hit? If I was playing now, I could get two people sent off every game, because if you’re six-foot-10 and you come up against somebody like me, there’s not a chance you’re going in low. There’s no chance. They’d have to start on their knees. I get that everybody is playing under the same laws, I feel we have to make sure that we don’t go the other way. Rugby is a physical game, it’s a contact sport.
“There are going to be times where people get hit high and I think we just need to make sure that, if it’s intentional – because over the years I’ve seen some intentional stuff, players need to be protected and players need to be sent off.
“Any player would say there are not many like Owen Farrell, as a player and a competitor. I played alongside his dad for 10 years at Wigan and Owen is the same mold. He’s fierce and he’s competitive. He plays in the center and he loves a physical battle, most 10s do not like being physical. I get that Owen Farrell has to be careful and he has a history of things, he’s got to tow the line like every other player in World Rugby, I think it’s a little more difficult than what everyone thinks.
“When your natural instincts are to put yourself in the way of someone that is 18 stone and stop them dead, you have to throw everything in. You don’t know if they’re going to step, you don’t know what’s going to happen. Things happen in split seconds. I don’t think that Farrell purposely did it, if he did I think it would be more obvious. We’ve got to make sure that when it’s not done on purpose, if it’s genuine foul play and somebody attacks the head, sometimes you see it and it’s quite obvious.
“I think we have to bring a bit of common sense into it. You can’t take hitting the head out of boxing, because that’s the sport. So I get that we want to protect the players, but at the same time I want to see players getting stuck in. Low leg tackles don’t work.
“The game has been so good to me and I’m aware of the dangers. Owen’s natural instinct is to throw himself in there and he’s paying the price now for not getting his technique right and as a result he’s going to miss some games and that could be crucial for England in the World Cup.”