A blast from England rugby’s recent past will rock up at Twickenham on Sunday to plunge the national team into crisis.

Imagine Eddie Jones’ delight if that were to happen, especially given the bad PR he’s had in England of late.

Jones – rugby’s most charismatic manager – takes Japan to the 82,000-seater stadium in south-west London with the aim of creating a bit of history by leading the Brave Blossoms to a first-ever victory over England.

For England fans who have seen their team lose five games on the trot, it is an unthinkable scenario for Japan to finish at No.6 – a run of defeats the English haven’t experienced since 2006.

If that happens, manager Steve Borthwick could be in an untenable position, two years after succeeding Jones.

‘Dictatorship’

Indeed, Jones does not lack motivation this weekend.

His name is mud for some in the English game in the wake of the release of former England tight end Danny Care’s autobiography, Everything Happens for a Reason, in which he wrote that the England camp under Jones was “like living in a dictatorship, under a despot who disappeared people.”

“Remember how it felt when someone was bullied at school and you were just glad it wasn’t you?” wrote Care, who is retired from international rugby. “It was the atmosphere.”

Others took the opportunity to pounce on Jones, including former England flyhalf Danny Cipriani, who said Jones was not someone I would want leading my country because of the way he carries himself.

Jones coached England from 2015-22, leading the team to three Six Nations titles, a 2019 Rugby World Cup final and 17 straight wins early in his reign, only for his tenure to be cut short with increasing questions about his coaching style. Care admitted that Jones gave him “some of the best memories of my rugby career”, but that it “came at a price.”

The Rugby Football Union responded to Care’s comments by saying no complaints were made about Jones by players, either to the governing body or via its confidential whistleblowing service. Current England captain Jamie George accepted Jones’ tenure was “challenging” for players but said the Australian “did brilliant things for English rugby.”

“Mental” problems

How Borthwick would take some of the wins England managed against the Southern Hemisphere powers during the Jones era.

England lost back-to-back Tests against New Zealand in July and three straight November Tests, against the All Blacks, Australia and South Africa. None of them have fallen – the combined margin of defeat this month is 16 points and all three entertaining games have given the crowd at Twickenham plenty of value for money – but England make the same mistakes every time and show fallibility when they win positions late in games.

Backup England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie put it down to “mental” issues but feels the team is moving in the right direction under Borthwick.

Still, lose to Japan ahead of a Six Nations campaign that kicks off for England in February with games against the top two title contenders, Ireland away and France at home, and Borthwick will be in desperate trouble.

Japan come into the game off the back of a 36-20 win over Uruguay on Saturday, but were overwhelmed 52-12 by France the week before and lost to England 52-17 in Tokyo in June.

The teams met in last year’s World Cup where England won 34-12.

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AP Rugby: