England pressure no concern for Jones – Hansen

Steve Hansen says “good bloke” Eddie Jones is unfazed by the pressure of coaching England following months of speculation over his future.

Jones made a dream start to his reign as England head coach, with the Red Rose putting together a record-equalling 18 consecutive wins.

England have lost their way this year, finishing second-bottom of the Six Nations table and suffering a 2-1 series defeat in South Africa.

A battling victory over the Springboks on Saturday gave the fourth-ranked side in the world a lift ahead of a showdown with New Zealand at Twickenham this weekend.

Hansen will be hoping Jones endures more misery on Saturday, but the All Blacks head coach says coming under such scrutiny is not affecting the wily Australian.

Next up…the @AllBlacks #ENGvNZL #CarryThemHome  pic.twitter.com/ECSj1v9FjR

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 5, 2018

“Talking to Eddie, I know he and England are very excited about this game, and we are too,” Hansen said.

“We usually talk either by text or by phone, probably every second week. It’s always good to have other people who are doing a similar role to yourself to be able to talk to.

“First and foremost you’ve got to have some form of relationship that allows you to get on with each other. You don’t ring people up you don’t like, just because they are doing the same job as you.

“So it probably indicates I like him and he might like me; I don’t know. The bottom line is we talk, our wives talk, and that’s not surprising. I think he’s a good bloke. The only people that don’t understand what it’s like to be a head coach of an international team are the people who’ve never been one.”

He added: “There’s a lot of pressure there, all the time, whether you’re winning or losing. It comes just in a different wrapper.

“And the expectations when you coach a top side like England are, you’re expected to win, and play well.

“Eddie more than anybody understands that. So he’s not too bothered by it. But you know that, you know that there’s going to be pressure with the job, and you accept that and you get on with it.”

KEO.co.za News wire is powered by opta