Paul O’Connell Has His Say On Eddie Jones & His Straight Talking Attitude

It’s not talking if you can back it up.

Whether you like him or not, you cannot deny Eddie Jones’ ability as a head coach. When the Australian first came on board with England, the Red Rose were in tatters. They had just been dumped out of the Rugby World Cup at the group stage as hosts, and they were sliding down the rankings.

England had become the laughing stock of rugby. In a matter of months Jones led England to a Grand Slam and a perfect season. He’s yet to be defeated as head coach of England, and as a result he’s pretty confident in his team and their abilities, and why shouldn’t he?

Jones is known to be a bit outspoken in his demeanour and isn’t afraid to shoot on almost anything. He pisses people off sometimes, and perhaps goes a little too far. Former Ireland captain Paul O’Connell was spoke on BBC Radio’s 5 live Sport tonight about Jones and how he portrays himself and it made for some interesting listening.

It seems O’Connell is an admirer of Jones and while he admits his comments about Johnny Sexton last year were silly, overall he enjoys how Jones goes about his business.

“Yeah, the Sexton stuff was silly I thought and he said recently that he would apologise when he gets the chance. I enjoy him in the media, I really like when he talks about coaching and what he wants the team to do and all that kind of stuff.

“I really like the detail of what he talks about, but I do enjoy him when he is in that position as well and he has to come back with a response.”

O’Connell also explained why Jones speaks the way he does, citing the fact that it is much easier to be a straight talker when you’re confident and you can back it up

“The thing when you are confident, you can talk straight, you don’t need to dance around, you don’t need to bluff, you don’t need to be polite when you feel everyone expects you to be polite, you can just say it as it is.

“I’ve met him a few times and I’ve had dinner with him once or twice and I have to say he’s great company and he’s a great man to talk about rugby.”

Are you an Eddie Jones fan or do you find him disrespectful?