Monday 11 January 2016 14:53, UK
It's selection week and there's much excitement ahead of England's favourite Australian's first crack at selecting a squad.
Obviously 33 doesn't go into 23 but there'll hopefully be a few interesting selections from the left field if Jones is trying to walk the line between the 'next game is the only one that counts' and 'everything is geared towards 2019' extremes.
1. Keep reminding all that the basics come first. Set piece, breakdown and defence are the foundations of a winning team.
The last regime became so obsessed with their incremental individual gains they forgot about the massive old fashioned virtues of the sport; the scrum collapsed and the breakdown was poorly thought through.
They never gave up on defence, just discovered that teams like Australia has a habit of unpicking them, come a World Cup - which only magnifies the importance of possession, from tight and loose.
2. Pick hookers who can throw and hook; I know this sounds obvious but it was overlooked by Stuart Lancaster, to devastating effect against Wales.
For this reason the first two names on the hooking list are Dylan Hartley and Jamie George. Both are good technicians whereas Tom Youngs, terrific in so many ways, remains suspect at the set piece.
Hartley has been on the bench recently for the Saints but I suspect Northampton were making a point after Jones' unsolicited 'chat' with Alex King. Mike Haywood is an excellent club player but lacks a few pounds at Test level.
Right now, Hartley's bite and experience will sharpen English teeth and assist the coaching of the scrum.
3. Inject a bit of nastiness. It can do wonders for a team. Bath called up some spite and venom in Toulon and almost carried the day. Mike Ford made a point of saying that attitude is as important as tactics sometimes. Hence Hartley is the right choice of captain, even though the Saracen should be playing 20 to 30 minutes a Test before he eventually claims the hooker position as his.
Right now, Hartley's bite and experience will sharpen English teeth and assist the coaching of the scrum. Ian Peel is only doing eight sessions and Steve Borthwick is an inexperienced scrum coach. It's not always been said, but Hartley makes sense.
4. Find a place for Maro Itoje in the team. Either in the second row or blindside, this young man has the will, intellect and ability to be at the very heart of Jones' attempt to turn England into world beaters.
5. Seek the balance between 'now' and 'then'. If Itoje symbolises the then, Brad Barritt is my idea of the leading now. Remember what Eddie said? Set piece and defence are the foundations and there's none more solid in defence in England than the Saracen inside centre. That is, of course, unless you shift him to outside centre, where his lack of pace and playing time left him exposed during the World Cup... still, we learn from our lessons.
6. Trust your own newspaper columns' judgement from the World Cup (which were pretty damning on the following subject). Despite the support for Chris Robshaw, he is the last managerial link with the old regime. Right or not he is indelibly a part of what happened last autumn.
Nick Easter says it is not fair to judge him on one competition after all his efforts in the previous four years but the World Cup is exactly what the world's best players must be judged upon. The pressure will not disappear in Japan, Jones should use the evidence of the World Cup as a prime source of material.
For that reason, not his solid club form, I would omit the former captain from my 33 and start afresh.
7. Come up with a few selections to excite and confuse the press. Danny Cipriani and Chris Ashton fit the former. Ashton is a fine finisher but was unfavoured by the end of the last regime.
Cipriani was never trusted by the previous management although he was excellent whenever he was given his always brief chance. He is third-choice fly-half but first pick impact substitute behind the scrum. For that reason he should be on the bench ahead of whoever loses out between Owen Farrell and George Ford.
8. Set out a broad strategic outline for the press and public before the Scotland game. The Jones journey's final point of arrival is Japan but there are several ways to make that journey. Being obsessed with winning every game between now and then is not the smartest direction to take because of the rebuilding required for now.
A poor performance and win might be less valuable than an ambitious defeat but set the philosophy out so the pressure doesn't have to overwhelm the team and its young management from day one.
9. Give the Six Nations your best but remind the general public and media that the first year of the Jones regime should not be judged until the final whistle is blown in the third Test in Sydney on June 25.
A Six Nations title (even a Grand Slam) would be less impressive than an England series victory in Australia, although one would be welcomed more than the other by annually disappointed English fans.
10. Cut out the corporate claptrap. The business of bad English is awful enough in the soulless sector of corporatism, let's remember sport is fun, even at the high end, and keep the language as simple as the basics at the scrum and lineout.
