Eddie Jones’ England tenure had even his most reliable players constantly looking over their shoulders
Rugby star Joe Launchbury has revealed he wasn’t his former England coach Eddie Jones’ cup of tea when he first took the reins.
Launchbury, 35, explained that he did not necessarily agree with Jones’ mental-testing methods, though he admitted they made him a better player. Jones took over the England coaching role in 2015 when Launchbury played for Wasps, leading them until his sacking in 2022.
Under Jones, England won three Six Nations titles. Launchbury played a prominent role in all three of those successes before earning his 70th and final cap for England in 2022.
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Despite that, the lock, who is set to retire this season with Harlequins, recently opened up about the challenges of playing for Jones. The Australian, now in charge of Japan, was known for constantly making unpredictable selection calls, which meant players like Launchbury never felt their positions were secure.
While that led to a degree of mental fatigue and frustration for the former England player of the year at the time, he believes the high-pressure environment pushed him to evolve and defiantly keep his place in the team.
He told The Times: “I look back on my international career with a huge amount of pride as I got the opportunity to play young when I hadn’t played many games for Wasps, but was entrusted to play when I thought I wouldn’t have been good enough. I really took that opportunity, and loved my time there.
“To be brutally honest, when Eddie [Jones] took over, I probably wasn’t his cup of tea, but I was really proud of how I changed my game. I was probably on the way out a few times, but managed to remodel a few things and not necessarily prove him wrong — he’d probably say that was part of his technique — but I’m proud I showed resilience to play as many times as I did.
“I’m so thankful that he must have capped me 40-odd times, but I always felt, and maybe a lot of players in that time felt that they were being pushed, and always one bad game from being out of the team. I was always striving and striving to stay in. I guess that’s what international rugby should be.
“That brought the best out of me, and I might not have agreed with it at the time, but looking back now, I’m so thankful, as you see some players plateau a bit and don’t kick on.”
Launchbury recently announced he will retire at the end of this season. However, the veteran was visibly emotional at full-time after coming on as a second-half replacement during the 52-33 defeat by Sale Sharks. He applauded supporters and took in the moment, suggesting it may have been his final appearance.
Launchbury had also walked onto the pitch before the match with his wife and children, adding to the sense of a farewell occasion. And a social media post from his wife strongly hinted that he had brought forward his retirement.
The post read: “The last game. It was an emotional day watching Joe play one more time. So much of our life has been focused around rugby and it feels very surreal that our weekends won’t be spent watching and supporting Joe playing. We are so proud of him and all that he has achieved.”
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