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Eddie Jones rues mental flaws that left England 'seduced by the scoreboard'
Eddie Jones rued mental flaws in an England side which “got out of jail” in a 38-38 draw with Scotland. England’s Six Nations title hopes were over before kick-off due to Wales completing the Grand Slam in Cardiff.
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Jones’ men brushed off the disappointment by racing to a 31-0 lead in the Calcutta Cup clash. However, England imploded and Scotland led 38-31 into added time, on the cusp of a first Twickenham success since 1983. But George Ford crossed and converted his own try for a 38-38 draw.
“It was 100 per cent mental. There’s no physical difference out there at all,” Jones said of his side’s final competitive game before the World Cup begins in Japan in September.
“It’s a bit of a recurring theme for us. We’ve experienced this at least three times in 12 months, where we’ve taken control of a game, let our foot off the gas and then been unable to get control of it back.
“Our first half there was some exceptional rugby. We should have been ahead by a lot more. We came in at half-time determined to play a bit tighter and with a bit more discipline, but we failed to do that.
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“It’s a great lesson for us. I thought our finishers (replacements) did exceptionally well to get us out of jail at the end. Obviously, just disappointed with the full 80 minutes.”
England’s only loss came in Cardiff, where a similar collapse proved costly as Jones’ men ultimately finished second in the championship.
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Jones added: “It’s never one thing. It’s always a combination of things. Just lacking that discipline to do the simple things over and over again.
🎥 HIGHLIGHTS: ENG 38-38 SCO
Look back at a barely fathomable match at Twickenham, the highest scoring draw in Test history #ENGvSCO #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/HNpUm6t0Ux
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 16, 2019
“We got seduced by the scoreboard. And sometimes it can be one player that does it and then it becomes infectious. There’s not one area we need to fix, apart from our ability just to be able to regain ourselves.
“If you look at our tournament, apart from a poor 30 against Wales and a poor 40 against Scotland, we’ve had a pretty good tournament.”
Jones clung to the positives of experiencing the setback now, rather than in Japan. He added: “We’re all disappointed, players, coaches, we’re all disappointed. But it’s a lesson. And the hardest lessons are the best lessons. And you want these sorts of lessons before you go to the World Cup.
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“Because you do that in the pool game against Tonga, for instance, then you can find yourselves in a difficult situation going forward. So we’d rather have those lessons now and we’ll do everything we can to learn from them and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
There were mixed emotions for Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend afterwards. Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup, won 12 months ago at Murrayfield, but missed out on a famous win.
“I’ve never been involved in a game like that as a player or a coach,” said Townsend, a member of Scotland’s last championship-winning team in 1999. “It’s the most unusual game I’ve been involved in.
The final 2019 #GuinnessSixNations table 🏉
Happy reading @WelshRugbyUnion fans 🏴 🔝#GrandSlam pic.twitter.com/5fSPWjbEOr
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 16, 2019
“I’m very happy with the draw considering what happened in the first half, but the players are absolutely gutted. They’re really disappointed not to have won, which seems incredible to
think when you’re 31-0 down.
“We talked about winning back respect in the second half. Winning the second half was going to be a huge challenge, against a team which had scored 31 unanswered points. To go out and score another five tries in the second half is still hard to believe.”
Townsend singled out number eight Magnus Bradbury, centre Sam Johnson and wing Darcy Graham for praise, describing Johnson’s try which put Scotland in front for the first time as “one of the best tries Scotland’s ever scored”.
“We’re disappointed at the end not to have held out,” Townsend added.
– Press Association
Comments on RugbyPass
Best thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
8 Go to commentslooking forward to RWC2027 …. Boks on mission impossible for the Three-in-a-row, ABs to prove they being on par, France wishing to crown the “DuPont-era”, Ireland knocking on the Semi-Door ….. until then we’ll probably have to deal with Weird Ben’s fantasy-RWC23 (fun fact is, the drivel always creates a flooding of comments) …..
221 Go to commentsBen Smith you really make some good points in this article, the Springboks were not close to perfect and good still beat the All Blacks, imagine if they were as good as they were against France what a hiding the All Blacks would have gotten… maybe another Twickenham drubbing
221 Go to commentsIt is a good argument to keep the Rebels for one more year but also isnt this just opening the door as well for keeping them beyond 2025. If they can create some sort of financial stability in the next year and if their performances lift as they have this season then how would RA even cull them after that? It might be the most cost effective decision at this stage and perhaps many people are guilty of keeping relationships going because of the cost to decouple but then again when does that ever work out well?
22 Go to commentsDear Ben Smith you are a genius! God please become the next all blacks coach that can take on the mighty BOKS. Your rugby acumen is second to none - imagine your dads sperm bounced as unfortunately as that oval ball did….we would not be blessed with your presence. Just as the all blacks were missing a man you too are missing a chromosome for 80% of your life, so your insights are not only profound but ring true from your own experiences. Just as the TMO interfered with citing an illegal pass I am sure your local authorities interfere with your illegal passes you make on women - How dare they!!! God forbid that rugby be officiated fairly. You are the right man for the job. Next all blacks coach is here ladies and gentlemen Miss Ben Smith (He/She/They/IT)
221 Go to commentsHuge engine this guy and great to see him back ..The amount of clean outs he does at the ruck are ridiculous !!
3 Go to commentsThe level of desperation in this article is just embarrassing.
221 Go to commentsSome silly trolling in the comments.
9 Go to commentsEverywhere you turn some irish journo is advocating Ireland as the greatest, reasoning that the wc is a 4 year cycle event so, they say wc doesn’t matter it’s the rugby in between that should account for the accolade. If there was no wc then some substance could be gained, however in my opinion the moment that defined Ireland’s fate against the abs was 37 phases of repeated head bashing against a brick wall. If a change in strategy or a tinker with the game plan was executed then things could've been vastly different. And to point a finger the let down was in the hands of the number 10.
64 Go to commentsI have heard it asked if RA is essentially one of the part owners and I suppose therefor should be on the other side of these two parties. If they purchased the rebels and guaranteed them, and are responsible enough they incur Rebels penalties, where is this line drawn? Seems rough to have to pay a penalty for something were your involvement sees you on the side of the conned party, the creditors. If the Rebels directors themselves have given the club their money, 6mil worth right, why aren’t they also listed as sitting with RA and the Tax office? And the legal threat was either way, new Rebels or defunct, I can’t see how RA assume the threat was less likely enough to warrant comment about it in this article. Surely RA ignore that and only worry about whether they can defend it or not, which they have reported as being comfortable with. So in effect wouldn’t it be more accurate to say there is no further legal threat (or worry) in denying the deal. Unless the directors have reneged on that. > Returns of a Japanese team or even Argentinean side, the Jaguares, were said to be on the cards, as were the ideas of standing up brand new teams in Hawaii or even Los Angeles – crazy ideas that seemingly forgot the time zone issues often cited as a turn-off for viewers when the competition contained teams from South Africa. Those timezones are great for SR and are what will probably be needed to unlock its future (cant see it remaining without _atleast _help from Aus), day games here are night games on the West Coast of america, were potential viewers triple, win win. With one of the best and easiest ways to unlock that being to play games or a host a team there. Less good the further across Aus you get though. Jaguares wouldn’t be the same Jaguares, but I still would think it’s better having them than keeping the Rebels. The other options aren’t really realistic 25’ options, no. From reading this authors last article I think if the new board can get the investment they seem to be confident in, you keeping them simply for the amount of money they’ll be investing in the game. Then ditch them later if they’re not good enough without such a high budget. Use them to get Jaguares reintergration stronger, with more key players on board, and have success drive success.
22 Go to commentsYeah, and ours is waaay bigger than yours. Just as you's get a semi…oh hold on that never happens
64 Go to commentsLove watching
1 Go to commentsThe Melbourne Rebels lineout is a complete disaster so not surprisingly a kiwi coach of the Wallabies hires the worst lineout coach in the country and a foreigner to boot. No surprises whatsoever here…….
6 Go to commentsThank your for wasting 2 minutes of my life Daniel. There is a useful message in there somewhere but your delivery sucks.
8 Go to commentsBen Smith, you are cry baby
221 Go to commentsSux that homophobia is still a thing though. I wonder how many players who could have become legends never kept playing rugby because they felt unwelcome.
8 Go to commentsCrazy he’s only 28, feel like he’s been around forever - don’t mind the move, safe pair of hands and creates depth in a thin position for ABs. Hopefully aides Kemara’s growth also without thrusting too much responsibility on him
1 Go to commentsMen should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
8 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
8 Go to comments