Eddie Jones says Wallabies suffer 'inferiority complex' against England
Eddie Jones smiles in his own inimitable way that he’s just another Australian with an “inferiority complex” when it comes to playing the “mother country” England at sport.
Whether one of the great mind-games players really believes this statement is very much open to doubt, of course.
Yet the man who’s guided England to seven straight convincing wins over his home country swears only an Aussie could truly understand just how psyched up Dave Rennie’s Wallabies will be to end that losing streak at Twickenham on Sunday morning (AEDT).
After unveiling a powerful, innovative-looking side on Thursday, Jones, in his best combative cheeky chappy mode, noted: “I know as an Australian – and it’s probably hard for the English to understand – what an important game this is for Australia.”
In his best schoolteacher mode, he then offered a history lesson as to why.
“Our country started as convicts being sent down there, so we have always looked up and looked at England as the mother country.
“I remember as a kid, we’d stand around for the anthem and it was God Save the Queen. We were the smaller country of England – so when we played them in sport, it was an opportunity to prove we were not.
“We have bit of an inferiority complex against the English, the Australians, so they’ll want to take us to where they want to.
“This is a game where Australians don’t go away. This is the game they want to win.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Olympics, test cricket, rugby league … this is the game that defines their season.”
Asked if he really believed that, Jones grinned: “I think I am still Australian, mate – so I understand how Australians think. It will be.”
Jones admitted he’d used the same ‘little brother’ mentality when he was Wallabies coach.
Dave Rennie has promised his Wallabies will “throw everything” at Eddie Jones’ England in a bid to end their woeful recent results against the old enemy. #Wallabies #ENGvAUS #AutumnNationsSeries https://t.co/u9ognH0hSm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 11, 2021
“Certainly not too successfully. England had the wood on us. While we got some victories, we didn’t have as many as we’d have liked.
“But I know how Australia think. They just won’t go away. They will keep coming. Because this is the game.
“As much as they’d have liked to win (against Scotland) at Murrayfield on Sunday, this is the game they’ve targeted. This is the game they want.
“We understand they won’t go away. We understand we will have to be in the game for every minute of the game.”
To handle this, Jones has gone with a side designed to squeeze in all his most powerful backline weapons, with the new star of English rugby Marcus Smith starting at 10, Owen Farrell at 12 and Manu Tuilagi making a rare and unlikely outing on the wing.
How much had Jones seen of the barnstorming centre Tuilagi as a winger? “Enough,” smiled the Aussie, who knows the 30-year-old hasn’t started in that position in a test since 2014.
“I see (in Tuilagi) a powerful player who’s probably in the best condition of his career, who will add to the ball players we’ve got inside and will finish off the movements that we have.”
Asked by one intrepid English reporter whether his 100 per cent winning record meant anything in the greater scheme of things and whether he particularly enjoyed beating his home country, Jones offered one of his razor-sharp put-downs.
“Zero and zero – so that’s two dots, and if you get that in a T20, you’re not having a good over,” smiled the master.
“So I’d try again.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments