George Gregan: Wallabies legend hails ‘great coach’ Eddie Jones and previews Australia v England series

Australia legend George Gregan has praised the “courage” of England head coach Eddie Jones ahead of the two teams’ upcoming Test series.

The former Wallabies scrum-half played under Jones for the Brumbies and country in his career and backs him to turn around England’s poor form.

On Saturday in Perth the teams face off in their first of three Tests in July and Gregan lavished superlatives on Jones as Australia await for the English.

“I loved playing with Eddie, he was a great coach,” Gregan explained.

“He’s a person who is prepared and has the courage to do things differently – not necessarily follow the norm and whatever the trend is in terms of the way the game’s being played, that takes courage.

“But it also takes a lot of convincing of the group and the people around you to go in that direction, which he does.

“He’s incredibly thorough and meticulous in his planning. What he also does is really empower his team to take ownership of what they do on the field and I think that’s a sign of a really, really good coach, hence he’s had success pretty much everywhere he’s coached.

“Eddie is very good under pressure in terms of identifying what needs to be done and really putting in place a focused plan and getting people to buy into it and working hard towards that.

“It can be a lonely place being a head coach, I think in all sports, it’s not easy.

“He will try to do things a little bit different just to get that little edge and create the best possible environment for his players and coaches to perform. That to me is Eddie in a nutshell.”

After the game in Perth next weekend, Australia and England will face off in Brisbane and then Sydney on successive Saturdays with plenty on the line.

Despite their dismal form of late,