Martin Gleeson talks about everything to do with England, his future and Eddie Jones. After two months, Steve Borthwick is quickly running out of time to fix an attack that the Telegraph Sport can show was deliberately sidelined by Eddie Jones.
Speaking at his local cafe in Wigan, former attacking coach Martin Gleason explains why the England team has often been flattered to cheat over the past four years, and makes a number of surprising confessions. When he was appointed in 2021, England did not have an established structure in open attacking play. They also never practiced finishing in the red zone in practice. In both cases, he provides a rationale that is often lost under the bombast of Jones's rhetoric.
Strange as it may sound, most of the metrics showed that England's attack last fall was successful. They ranked first among Tier 1 nations in collision dominance and led in line breaks and transfers. The only glaring exception was their red zone finish, with England spending four minutes and 27 seconds 22 seconds behind Argentina but losing to the Pumas. More missed chances against South Africa would mean the end of the Jones era.
Under Eddie Jones, England didn't spend their precious time practicing scoring. Photo: Getty Images/Steve Bardens
“We should have given Argentina some serious points,” Gleason said. “We went from halfway to 22, no problem. It may seem strange, but Eddie wants to work on things gradually, so we haven't practiced what we do at 22 yet.
It sounds strange. Which team does not practice scoring tries? However, the time constraints of international coaching mean that it is necessary to prioritize. Gleason's challenge was to get England into the top 22. Completion – the last piece of the puzzle – was to be honed at this summer's World Cup training camp.
“Eddie says if you chase five rabbits, you won't be able to catch any of them,” Gleason said. “You have to chase one rabbit at a time. You get four workouts before Six Nations.
“You can't cover everything. You can not. Thus, you must decide what to prioritize and what to focus on. England have always been such an exhausting team. We needed another string to win the World Cup. I heard Steve [Bortwick] say he needs a fast ball, but how do you get a fast ball? England had the slowest ball in the Six Nations [2023].
“You can only get a fast ball if you are like South Africa or France, who have strong strikers who can break people one-on-one. Or you can be more like Ireland who doesn't have these beasts but has a really good tight attack with options in the lane that confuses the defense and gives you one on one. That's how Ireland gets their fast ball. We wanted to get a fast ball with good form and numbers on the line, like Ireland did and like the Saracens do, but this process takes time.”
Gleason had only coached rugby union for two years when he joined the England squad to replace Simon Amor. In that short time, he has built a reputation as one of the most innovative managers in the league, and the Wasps have reached the 2020 Premier League Final thanks to the league's best offense.
What quickly became apparent to Gleason was that the England players were operating without an established attack structure. It wasn't a problem when the Saracens dominated England. However, after Jones broke that hegemony, there was no collective understanding to lean on.
“The thing with England is they never had any system or device,” Gleason said. “The team was mostly made up of Saracens, so we could continue on the path of Sarri. When it came to open play, where many teams play in a 1-3-3-1 formation, this has never been the case with England. It was just “playing rugby”. What struck me in the fall [2021] and Six Nations [2022] is that we need some kind of system for people to know where to be and what to do.
“If half of your players are from the same club, then, you can probably get away with it, but when you have a lot of players from different teams who aren't used to playing with each other, they need to know roughly where they should be in relation to each other. each other and what options they have inside and outside.”
Gleeson has a lot to offer, but they weigh up their options. Photo: Telegraph/Jon Super
The first building blocks were laid during last year's tour of Australia, with particular emphasis on the depth of the strikers to run quickly to the ball. England lost the first Test when too many ball carriers became isolated, but tightening their formation allowed them to dominate the battle to win the second Test. They continued to make progress using their forwards and their own time-outs, especially in the autumn draw against New Zealand, but time was up for Jones and therefore for his coaching staff.
“It all depends on one or two parts of the game don't click and one or two results,” Gleason said. “Going into the World Cup with a full pre-season, we would be immeasurably better if we had the opportunity to work on all aspects of our game.”
At Wasps, Gleason had a reputation as a deranged professor, constantly questioning union orthodoxy as an underdog from the league. He almost made the transition as a player in 2004 when Clive Woodward sent Joe Lydon to recruit him from St Helens, but the rugby football union didn't move fast enough. Although it was Sean Edwards who first got Gleason interested in unions, he was always drawn to the other side of the ball. “Defense wins championships, but I've always been more attracted to attack,” he said.
He has many offers both in the league and in the union. “I don't want to make hasty decisions,” Gleason said. “I'm open-minded and I really enjoyed talking to the coaches on both codes.”
Gleason knew what he was getting himself into working under the workaholic Jones, and he fully expects him to start lighting the fire in Australia. “He's pushy and can be ruthless at times,” Gleason said. “I have worked under some ruthless trainers. Michael Maguire at Wigan was a psychopath. They are all psychopaths to some degree. It's like those CEOs who sleep for four hours and still keep one eye open. Eddie plays rugby non-stop. You will receive messages at 4 am. It could be a clip of Japanese rugby on a whatsapp group and he will ask what are you seeing here?
Former England Head Coach Eddie Jones will lead Australia in the World Cup later this year. Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers
“Eddie is brilliant – I mean brilliant, the best thing I've ever seen is that he can tell stories. He can paint a picture. He can run a room and sell a vision like no one else I've ever met. But all trainers have an expiration date. After a while, your voice loses its value.
“He will have a huge impact on the wallaby during the World Cup. He will give them hope. He will give them a vision. He will give them confidence. They are a very good team and I have no doubt that the response he will get from them will be huge.”
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