England now have their first non-English coach. While some fans have bemoaned what this means for English coaches working in the Aviva Premiership, the prevalent opinion seems to be that Eddie Jones was the best option available to the RFU.
The choice of Jones is an interesting one though. He's previously been critical, along with a lot of other people about the policy of only picking players playing in the national competition. After Michael Cheika sorted things at Australia, England are the last great adherents to that policy. And there were hopes among fans that Jones' arrival would see a similar stance taken by England.
@EnglandRugby I trust we shall now be removing the ridiculous foreign player rule now we have a foreign coach
— James Courtney (@champagnejimmy) November 20, 2015
@EnglandRugby so we can have an overseas coach but can't use our English players not based in England ? — Robert Wood (@RobertWood04) November 20, 2015
@EnglandRugby now we have a foreign coach are we going to pick our best players even if they don't play in England?
— Kev 44 (@KevAddlesee) November 20, 2015
It's fair to say that hasn't happened. Instead, Jones has gone full circle on the issue.
Sometimes you see things differently when you’re on the outside. I’ve had a good chat with Ian. I want players who want to play for England and if you want to play for England you have to play in the Premiership. I’m happy with that.
England missed out on taking the likes of Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon to the World Cup and while the numbers may not be huge at the moment, there is a fear that more players could be attracted to France. However, even if that does happen, England are firmly sticking to their guns and it's something that could really come back to bite them in the ass in the coming years.
Either that or it will strengthen the Aviva Premiership no end and no one will want to leave anyway. To be fair to them, it could go either way.
