England are now holding onto a handsome winning record and in achieving that have been building week on week in terms of their performance levels. Saturday's outing against Fiji showcased the depth of talent housed within the squad and with two matches before the calendar year finishes the possibility of finishing unbeaten remains very much on the cards. Following the match Eddie Jones shared his thoughts on of areas and here's the insight into Australian's views.
George Ford
First let’s start with Eddie Jones' thoughts on his starting fly-half. As I mentioned at length during my post match review George Ford is flying for England and as you’d expect his head coach is happy with how the Bath player is delivering for his country:
“Some of George Ford’s alignment on some of the phase ball was absolutely outstanding, the best I have seen for a long time.
“He probably feels a sense of security and I think he enjoys the sort of rugby we’re trying to play. He’s got a beautiful skills-set.
Eddie Jones continued on with his assessment and was fairly open regarding an area that can make George an even better player:
“I just think he’s got a great feel for the game. He sees opportunities. He needs to work on his running game a bit, which we will work on. He needs to be more of a threat himself. He’s actually too selfless. He needs to be a bit more selfish with the ball at times and he will start to develop that in his game.
“I think he can be better than Beauden Barrett – no doubt about that. People rave about Beauden Barrett but I don’t.”
Japan and Wales' approach
By now we all know that England's head coach often says exactly what he thinks and doesn’t toe the party line for the sake of it. This time a simple question regarding Japan’s close call against Wales delivered a fairly strong view regarding the home nation's approach to the fixture alongside an insight to the Japanese feelings after:
“There will be some tears. The Japanese cry when they win and they cry when they lose, so there will be plenty of tears. It’s a fantastic result for them and Wales were obviously complacent again. You look at the side they put out, they shouldn’t be winning by three points against a Japanese team that has seven or eight new caps and those guys are coming out of company rugby. You or I could play company rugby.”
Potential Lions assistant coaches
Leading on from Wales the man that was in charge of their fate until late, Lions head coach Warren Gatland, should now be in full flow regarding selecting his assistant coaches. The Kiwi will announce his team in Dublin on 7th December and has openly said that he will be looking for a blend of continuity with some fresh faces in there. Once again Eddie Jones has reiterated the positive nature that having one or two of his coaching team on the Lions tour could have for England Rugby and of course for the individual or individuals themselves:
“I am happy for all of my coaching team except me to be involved in the Lions and if they are offered a job I will encourage them to take the job and get down there and work out how to beat New Zealand because that is one of our aims.
“They can help us and the Lions. What a great opportunity to spend ten weeks in New Zealand on the Lions tour. Ten weeks of hearing “Bro” seven million times and getting to understand everything about New Zealand rugby and ultimately if they are No1 when we play them they will be the side to beat but we are not sure they are going to be No1 then.”
Selection...
Clearly a number individuals came into the mix for the Fiji match and the question on everyone’s minds now is whether any have done enough to continue and gain another start against Argentina? Eddie Jones never definitively comments on selection but quietly said that he thinks that he has a XV and 23 in mind…. of course that means he 100% does! That said some players have pushed themselves further into his thinking:
“Well, a few players today may have clouded it [my thinking] a little bit. I thought Daly was good on the left wing. Whether that is his best position, I’m not sure, but it certainly worked. I was pleased with him and with JJ – his defence was absolutely outstanding.”
George Kruis is also now fit to return to England’s camp, let’s take Joe Launchbury’s citing out of this one for a minute because we don’t know what will come of that, and focus on that area of the field. Eddie Jones would have no qualms about throwing Kruis straight into the international mix and openly said that before any judicial review arrived. Both Jonny May and Mike Brown are competing for selection and as I mentioned in the match review Eddie Jones simply said Alex Goode ‘did some good things’ but didn’t rant and rave about him further so you expect Mike Brown may be returned to the starting 15 jersey.
The balance for Argentina & their winning run
The Pumas this weekend now presents an altogether different challenge and one that will have been England’s head coach’s focus as soon as he opened his eyes on Sunday morning. The tactics and plans will be put in place immediately, with a great amount of detail, and he shared a top line view of what’s required:
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“Argentina is a tricky side, not an easy side to play against and we’re going to have to prepare really well to beat them. It’s about finding the right balance between playing structured and unstructured. We need to get an advantage in the set piece which is difficult against them, so we’ve got to find ways to do that, and then make them play unstructured rugby from situations they’re not great in.”
Of course now England continued on their unbeaten run under Eddie Jones and the Australian is well aware that even if he, and his players, may want it to continue indefinitely sometimes you do get beaten in professional sport:
“It’s always fun when you are winning. Our big test is when you lose a game. We’re not frightened of losing, we don’t want to lose a game, but we know if we do we will learn a lot from it. It’s all part of sport, it’s all part of developing a team. No one wins at 100 per cent, not even the All Blacks, the Chicago Bulls didn’t, Barcelona don’t, Real Madrid. It’s impossible with sport because you are dealing with people. You are going to have days when you are a little but off and the other mob is a little bit on - so you are going to get beaten.”
