Cape Town - Seasoned Australian coach Eddie Jones wants to bring back the flair of old to the Stormers and light up Newlands when he makes his return to Super Rugby in 2016.
The Cape Town-based side have been criticised by many fans in recent years for adopting a dour approach under former coach Allister Coetzee.
Jones, a major hit with Japan at the recent World Cup in England, wants to revert to a style of play for which the Western Province side was previously renowned in order to try to lead them to a first Super Rugby title.
“When you look at the history of Western Province, the team has been about playing attacking rugby,” he told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
“What we will be looking to do is develop an attacking style with a traditional South African base which means forward domination and strong set-phase play which is pretty much what everyone chases after.
“We want to play good rugby and light up Newlands. If we do that we will get results and have a good year,” said Jones.
“How long it takes to win Super Rugby which is obviously our ultimate goal... I don't know.”
Jones steered Japan to three victories in the 2015 World Cup pool phase including a stunning 34-32 win over the Springboks.
With interest in Japan at record levels, the temptation could have been to stay with the 2019 World Cup hosts but Jones said the opportunity to return to day-to-day coaching prompted his decision to move to Cape Town.
“Japan offered me the job to go forward and once I decided I didn't want to be director of rugby for their Super Rugby team, for various reasons, to stay in Japan and coach five games a year, I thought, 'I'm 55, I want to maximise my coaching time',” he said.
Ten more years
“I've got maybe another 10 years... and to work in South Africa was a big drawcard. Not many foreign coaches have come here.”
Jones said he had received no contact from England over their vacant role of head coach but, in any case, he added that he was committed to the Stormers.
He takes over a young side that has lost a number of key players, among them Jean de Villiers and Duane Vermeulen, and believes his experience in Japan has some parallels with the task ahead at Newlands.
“Japan was an exciting project, to take a side that had historically been a joke team and make them into a proper rugby side was a massive cultural and psychological challenge,” explained Jones.
“I learned a lot while doing that and, while the Stormers is a completely different job, we need to change the culture, mind-set and playing style of the team. Those things I have learnt in Japan... the processes will be the same.”
Jones said transformation in South African rugby, where more black players could be forced into the six Super Rugby teams, was a non-issue.
“Transformation is part of South African society and Western Province has a history of embracing it. I see it as a normal part of what we are going to do,” he added.
Super Rugby will have three additional teams, including from Japan and Argentina, but no matches in the pool stages between South African and New Zealand sides.
“For the South African players it's going to be tough, they have huge local derbies and then have to play against Australian teams who traditionally fancy themselves against South African sides,” said Jones.
The 55-year-old, who won the Super Rugby title with Australia's Brumbies in 2001, coaches his first match against the Pretoria-based Bulls on February 26.
Jones is likely to need some patience and one other factor if the Stormers are going to succeed.
“You always need luck,” he said with a trademark smile.
REUTERS