UNPLUGGED Deal with the Aim to Improve on the Rather Disgraceful Confident Decisions Which Lancaster May Have Shied Away Performance at the 2015 Rugby World Cup
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The MillHillian The MillHillian Volume 1 Issue 1 Volume 1 Issue 1 Eddie Jones’ Triumphs with England The Aussie who is making the national side great again. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The inside scoop on the failures at West Ham 4 6-7 Who really is the new Vice President–elect? Need to get home: Is Uber the best answer? 9 Tai’s Top Tunes 12-13 An afternoon with Mr. Kerr 14-15 All articles included in this newspaper have been written by pupils and therefore the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Mill Hill Foundation. England rugby appointed their first foreign coach in Eddie One of Eddie Jones’ key attributes is his man management Jones on the 20th November 2015 after agreeing a 4-year skills and it is clear that he is not scared to make quick, UNPLUGGED deal with the aim to improve on the rather disgraceful confident decisions which Lancaster may have shied away performance at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. England’s from making. One example of this was when he started Charity Committee’s annual show raises over £650 for MS Society. previous coach in Stuart Lancaster had found the job a big Teimana Harrison on his debut on the Australia tour but step up from his frankly small prior coaching roles. then proceeded to take him off after just 15 minutes when However, this time the RFU didn’t make the same mistake realising that he was not up with the pace of international by hiring Eddie, whose rugby CV dwarfs that of Lancaster. rugby. A crucial feature in this story is that Harrison is still Eddie coached his home country Australia to the World involved in the current side demonstrating how well Jones Cup Final in 2003, as well as having a technical role with talks to his players to get the best out of them. He has also South Africa, his final job before his role at England was allowed what are now key players, who struggled under being head coach of a Japanese side that shocked the world Lancaster, to shine such as James Haskell, Billy Vunipola with their surprising 34-32 victory over the Springboks last and Chris Robshaw. The faith that he has shown in players year. allows them to be more confident and expressive in their The first thing that Jones did was change the quite poor set skills, an air of confidence which shows on the pitch. His of coaching staff that shadowed Lancaster and his mission defensive attitude when talking to the media also takes to pull the England side to the ground. Eddie Jones brought pressure off his players and is crucial for the whole positive in Steve Borthwick and Paul Gustard as his assistant morale surrounding the squad. However, Jones’ is equally coaching staff, these two men play a massive part in the quick to recognise how poorly the side has performed for present England set-up and are incredibly important to the example his recent post-match interview after the Australia results that England have secured in the last 13 games. The game, where he said “we were terrible for the first 20 other immediate effect of Jones taking the job was to drop minutes I don’t think we could have tried to play any worse Robshaw as captain and to give Dylan Hartley the armband. than we did” showing how blunt he really is. This obsession At the time this was a controversial choice, as Hartley has with perfection and refusal to accept what he already is previously had issues with discipline. However, it has perhaps the most crucial reason to why the side continues to proved to be an excellent decision and Hartley’s leadership improve. ability shows both on and off the pitch. This year the Charity Committee hosted their monologue that captivated and shocked England’s Results since Eddies taken over 06/02/2016 vs Scotland 15-9 W annual Unplugged event in the name of the the audience. A big thanks must go to Eddie’s first game ended in a 15-9 win against a Scottish side who had reached the quarter 14/02/2016 vs Italy 40-9 W ‘Multiple Sclerosis Society’. The evening was guest speaker and Old Millhillian, Paula final in the same World Cup England had crashed out of. The win was backed up by a 27/02/2016 vs Ireland 21-10 W successful Six Nations campaign where England achieved the Grand Slam (winning all 6 12/03/2016 vs Wales 25-21 W full of talented soloists, duos and groups that Sanchez who partook in an informative games in the competition). The side then went on tour to Australia where they played 3 19/03/2016 vs France 31-21 W entertained the sell-out Patrick Troughton Q&A session about MS, led by a tests and the Wallabies struggled to match England’s ability over the three tests. The year 29/05/2016 vs Wales 27-13 W Theatre. A particular highlight was Anousheh selection of Charity Committee finished with 4 autumn internationals where real determination had to be shown with key 11/06/2016 vs Australia 39-28 W Habib and Martha Abrahamson-Ball’s rendition members. Mr Kyle was his usual players out such as Haskell, Itoje, Watson and Nowell. Here the work behind the scenes 18/06/2016 vs Australia 23-7 W of “Locked out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars exuberant self and fantastically led the really showed with players such as Tom Wood, Launchbury, Laws, Yarde and Alex 25/06/2016 vs Australia 44-40 W Goode all stepping up to fill in for regular starters. The biggest victory for me personally 12/11/2016 vs South Africa 37-21 W accompanied by Bertold Minksz’ superb live band through each act, alongside came against Argentina, a side who had reached the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup. 19/11/2016 vs Fiji 58-15 W beatboxing. A special feature of the night was George MC Taylor. With over £650 England went down to 14 men after just 4 minutes when Eliot Daly found himself red 26/11/2016 vs Argentina 27-14 W actually a non-musical performance, Linela raised on the night, we look forward to carded for a dangerous tackle. England had to show real grit to finally win a very hard 03/12/2016 vs Australia 37-21 W Pandeva performed a self-written dramatic next year! fought game against a strong Argentinian side. Will Eglen December The MillHillian Edition 1 December The MillHillian Edition 1 The MillHillian The MillHillian Page 2 Volume 1 Issue 1 A W EEK WITH THE ELVES AND TROLLS A Farewell To Mr Kerr And his insight into the professional game. What was your most memorable moment? My most memorable moment it is definitely winning the Ranfurly shield. The shield is one which is based on challenges rather than leagues or knockouts. I was part of the team that first won this trophy for my county Manuaku and it was extra special as I had just got back from injury and only got cleared to play literally the night before the game. Moreover, when we finally won all these old guys who used to play for the county came running on flooding with tears, it was pretty special. What kind of character were you in the changing room? In terms of my persona I was a very laid back guy and I think that was mainly due to the fact that I played fly half and needed to be relaxed to control the game. Interestingly, in New Zealand we would have a psychologist permanently with the team and they had this goldfish mentality which involves you taking one thing at a time. I do believe that all the best sportsmen have the ability to change their attitude as soon as they get on the pitch and suddenly become more aggressive. That was something I was trying to achieve later on in my career. When you were playing did you have any rituals? In terms of rituals, I was never that superstitious but I would eat the same meal before every game which consisted of mash, egg and spaghetti. Similarly, I had to always go to bed at 10:30 a night before a game otherwise I would get worried about my own energy levels. Finally, in terms of kicking I always tried to stick to the same routine and I guess it is all just part of making you feel comfortable and going through the same process each time. Looking back on your career are there any regrets you have and any Well, not quite a week, five days to be exact. But And yet that wasn’t it. The country is rich in culture and tips for any of us? certainly enough magic and mystery to last in the history, not least their firm belief in mystical creatures I was never the most talented kid out of the bunch but it is what I did outside of memory. such as the elves and trolls. In a recent survey, 53% of training that made me who I was. On my days off I would go for a run and I would go to the park to practise my kicking it is about going that extra mile or that extra the Icelandic population confirmed that they believed in A group of sixth formers on their annual trip to Iceland 10% as coaches now refer to it as.