Eddie Jones accepts Leicester sacking Claudio Ranieri can easily happen to him in the changing world of rugby

Jones has great sympathy for former Leicester manager and believes that rugby union is following the cut-throat nature of the Premier League

Eddie Jones admitted even he is not bulletproof when it comes to the cut-throat nature of elite sport (Getty)

After reaching the top, the only place left to go is down. After sacking Claudio Ranieri on Thursday evening, there’s not many neutrals who will have much sympathy if Leicester City do exactly that and get relegated at the end of the Premier League season.

In some aspects, England head coach Eddie Jones finds himself in a similar position to the Italian. Having not lost a match since taking over the role, Jones is at the top of the game, and sooner or later he’s probably going to have to deal with a defeat.

A loss is unlikely to lead to Jones losing his job, but he understands that just like football, rugby coaches can quite easily lose their job when results go against you. Leicester fans understand this more than most, given Ranieri is the second coach in the city to lose their job in under two months after Richard Cockerill’s dismissal by Leicester Tigers.

“I wasn’t surprised because you know how football thinks,” Jones said on Friday. “Rugby will be the same, there’s no doubt, because everyone wants instant results. I’ll lose a game and people will be asking ‘when’s he on the plane home?’ That’s the reality of sport these days. That’s the reality of life.

“Everyone wants quick fixes but the reality in sport is that you don’t get quick fixes.”

Jones was keen to point out that he is far from bulletproof as England head coach, despite having the opportunity to record his 16th straight victory against Italy this weekend and a 17th consecutive win for England. He attempted to put his finger on why Leicester have struggled to defend their Premier League title so much this season, given that by the time they play Liverpool on Monday, they may be bottom of the table.

“You see Ranieri – I don’t know the guy but I know people that do and they all speak of him very highly as a man, an incredibly humble, respectful soccer professional coach,” Jones added. “The team’s not performing this year. Is it because they are missing one player – [N’Golo] Kante – who knows? Or is it because some of the players have gone off and decided they want more money? Who knows? Or has he changed? Has he been affected by success? You don’t know.

“But it’s saddening when you see someone who’s done something absolutely marvellous to be sacked. I don’t know if you’ve ever been sacked, but it’s humiliating…It’s a humiliating experience. He won’t be walking round Leicester with his head held high today, he’ll be feeling terrible. He’ll be looking for another job.”

While Leicester’s game appears to have been built around the undeniable talent of Kante, Jones is doing no such thing. He has made four changes to his side that face Italy in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Sunday, with Ben Te’o replacing the dropped Jonathan Joseph, Jonny May replacing Jack Nowell on the wing, Danny Care getting a rare run-out ahead of Ben Youngs at scrum-half and James Haskell returning in the back-row.

As well as the changes, Jones is having to make do without the services of one of his best players in Billy Vunipola as well as influential forwards Chris Robshaw and George Kruis. To combat the possibility of one player becoming key for his team, Jones is developing three players in each position with the quality to make the grade at international test rugby level.

Jones also proved he can still pull a few surprises with his team selection, having gone through the motions with his squad announcements for England’s opening victories over France and Wales. The feeling was that Te’o would start, but in the 12 shirt outside fly-half Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly switching to outside centre to accommodate a returning Anthony Watson on the wing. As it is though, Watson has not recovered enough to feature, and Te’o takes Joseph’s place with Daly remaining on the wing.

“I want a third option at 13; I don’t have a third option at 13,” Jones explained over his decision. “I have JJ [Joseph], I have Elliot, but I need a third option. As I’ve said right from the word go, my aim by the World Cup in 2019 is to have three choices in each position. In every game I’m looking at how I can develop that and for this game it’s a great opportunity for us to look at Ben at 13 and see how that fits with George [Ford] and Owen at 10 and 12 – and whether that can be an option for us going forward.”

Jones has made four changes but sticks with captain Dylan Hartley (Getty)

Another thing that Jones has been doing in threes is inviting leading figures from other sports to England’s training base at Pennyhill Park to see what he can learn from their methods. After Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and former Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew visited the team, it was the turn of recently resigned England cricket captain Alastair Cook on Friday.

“We try to get guys who are great examples of leadership and get them to talk to the players,” Jones explained of his methods. “One of the ways to encourage players to be better leaders is to talk to guys who are better than they are.

Ben Te'o will make his first start for England against Italy (Getty)

“[Cook’s] a rugby fan and good mates with Dylan [Hartley]. We've spoken previously about him coming in and today was a good opportunity for him. He didn't speak to the team. He's having lunch with the team. It's all very informal.”

Danny care starts for the first time in a year (Getty)

What won’t be an informal affair is taking on an out-of-sorts Italian side that is pointless in the Six Nations this year, where anything but a bonus point victory will be a disappointment for the reigning Grand Slam champions. Given that Italy have never beaten England before, a Twickenham walkover is expected unless Italy can find something similar to the performance that saw them beat South Africa last autumn. But as Ranieri’s sacking proves, who knows what can happen in sport.