After Saturday’s victory Eddie Jones gave his England side a ‘pass mark’ but highlighted that they are ‘nowhere near good enough’ right now and have a number of areas to improve on. It's a sign of the standards that he expects from this squad and as I've said before a testament to how good he believes that they can be that such a forthright assessment was delivered.
Alongside his post-match assessment the head coach did entertain a look ahead towards this Saturday's encounter with Fiji and as ever he’s not backward about coming forwards. The Australian wants to win ‘conclusively’ and has already said definitively that his side are going to be victorious on Saturday:
“We are going to win the game and I want to win it conclusively. To win it conclusively we have to bore them to death. It doesn't mean playing bad rugby - just being actually smart against them.”
When you hear, or read, such an assessment then often small gasps are heard while processing it. Those discussing English sporting sides aren't supposed to be so frank, instead the party line about not under-estimating the opponents is expected. Ignoring the status quo on this is often branded as unsporting arrogance yet in my eyes that's a bit backward. If you look at this match up and assess the bare facts then Eddie Jones is right, England should win convincingly. Setting out such a stall on the night of their first victory of this four Test series is another example of the Australian putting the pressure on his side. Immediately their victory against South Africa has been parked and they go again.
Clearly Fiji are an altogether different challenge to South Africa, their outing against the Barbarians may not have filled too many people with confidence but on the Twickenham turf Fiji will arrive. The last match between the two at RWC 2015 showcased exactly what the Fiji can do and in Eddie Jones’ mind there’s a clear way to approach their next opponents:
“We just have to bore then to death. You go to Fiji and everyone is throwing 15m torpedo passes, flicking the ball through their legs, side stepping. If they can't do that they get bored. If they get bored they don't want to play and when they do that you get points against them.”
Selection is something that is hotly discussed every week and it will be the same ahead of this second Test of the Old Mutual Wealth Series. Over the summer if you reviewed this block of four fixtures then the matches against Fiji, and to a lesser extent Argentina, were the ones where you might have thought would deliver ample changes in personnel. Yet in the world of Eddie Jones that isn't how it works and instead he has talked about some amendments but not wholesale ones:
“No. No [not opportunity for huge change]. Because I want people to deserve their opportunity. To start for England has to be the proudest thing of their lives and to do that you have to earn it. There are a few players that have earned it and they will get it. You come in the fly by night and you're not going to start for England. I don't believe in that.
“We want to keep improving the team so there are guys that I want to have a look at who I think may be better than the guys I have in now so there may be an opportunity. I'm only going to select people who are better than what we have at the moment or potentially can be better.”
The specifics of those changes are something that we will all have to try and gleam over the course of this training week but regardless of the where they occur the approach is clear. England started with the victory that they wanted but not the overall performance and on Saturday afternoon it be about tightening up those areas of frustration. Early discipline, sharpening some of their attacking output and keeping the defensive pressure on for the full eighty will be key focus points and nothing less than a conclusive victory will suffice.
