EDDIE JONES has always been terrible with numbers; maybe that is why so few of his public statements add up.
The vastly experienced Australian will launch his second stint with Japan tomorrow by sending a callow Brave Blossoms line-up into battle against England in Tokyo.
Jones will be itching to put one over his former protege Steve Borthwick, who succeeded him as England coach and then promptly torched his mentor's legacy.
Borthwick will be every inch as eager to flex his coaching muscles against a man from whom he learned so much but would emulate only in part.
The master-apprentice narrative could prove compelling, but only if Jones's inexperienced side can generate a true Test against England's full-strength line-up.
Amid doubts whether that battle of coaching wills can stack up, several of Jones's latest claims certainly do not.
He even admitted that accuracy on figures is not his strong point yesterday, when failing to find the mental arithmetic on how many scrums England veteran Dan Cole might have faced in his lengthy Test career.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Versatile Gomes could be the missing piece of England midfield puzzle
OF THE four newcomers in the squad, no player signifies the start of Lee Carsley's new England revolution more so than Angel Gomes.
I'M READY TO GO DISTANCE WITH SINNER'
DRAPER HAS PLENTY LEFT IN THE LOCKER FOR HIS BLOCKBUSTER US OPEN SEMI AGAINST WORLD Not
Pope needs strong finish after good start takes worrying dip
THE OVAL Test so often feels like the end of something, but that is not really the sense as this summer of red-ball renewal draws towards a close.
The manager has exciting new ideas and beliefs - now I want the chance to show him what I can do
IT MUST have been an occasionally frustrating summer for Jarrod Bowen, who initially looked poised to be a key player for England at Euro 2024 before having to watch their strange tournament unfold from the sidelines.
Lloyd's profits hit £4.9bn for half year as prices rise
LLOYD’S of London, one of the City’s most significant financial institutions, reported a sharp rise in half-year profits today in a boost for the Square Mile.
What Londoners really want in bed (it's not what you think)
GEN Z are having the same amount of sex as baby boomers, BDSM is on the rise and a whopping number of millennials are open to polyamory, according to a new report into sex habits by the Kinsey Institute, in partnership with dating app Feeld.
Seven years on, the scandal of cladding still shames us
A S Britain absorbs the second phase of the report into the Grenfell Tower inferno, with its accumulation of horrors, an event last week serves as warning and a rebuke to the pace with which we have got here.
Is Gen Z to blame for the horror show of carbonara in a can? Oh, do give over
THERE won’t be historians in the future — only conspiracy theorists — but if there were, you might expect them to pinpoint the downfall of civilisation to last week, when Heinz announced it had put spaghetti carbonara in a can (spoiler: it’s a disaster). Heinz says this is all Gen Z’s fault, because the lazy sods can’t be bothered to cook.
Our glorious Paralympics is no fluke at all
IT’S been an incredible Paralympic Games and I’ve loved watching all of the action whether it be on the track, on the court, in the water or the arena.
Bowie in Berlin: how the German city changed him
Anew radio show explores how David Bowie disappeared into the city to reinvent himself. Dylan Jones has a first listen