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Video - 'He's their third choice' - Jones reveals England to target specific Welshman

By Peter Hanson

Eddie Jones has made little secret of England’s plan to target Rhys Patchell in Saturday’s crunch Six Nations clash with Wales, saying the fly-half faces “enormous pressure”.

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Despite a lack of exposure at Test level, Patchell played a starring role in Wales’ opening-round win over Scotland, with regular 10s Dan Biggar and Rhys Priestland both sidelined by injury.

It was Patchell’s first Six Nations outing and just his sixth Wales appearance overall, and England coach Jones has warned the Scarlets back that he faces an altogether different challenge at Twickenham.

“The pressure on him is going be enormous. It’s whether he has the bottle to handle it,” Jones told a news conference.

“We’ll find out on Saturday.

“He hasn’t played much Test rugby at all. He is going to have [Chris] Robshaw at him, [Owen] Farrell at him, [Danny] Care at him – all guys that have played a lot of Test rugby.

“Wales have to get the ball wide and Patchell hasn’t played much Test match rugby. He’s a young guy, he’s inexperienced and is their third-choice 10.

“He’s got to get the ball wide and that’s going to be a big job. It will be different to playing against Scotland.

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“Scotland couldn’t cope with the expectation and now he’s got to cope with the expectation of playing well.

“Patchell will have to find guys around him to help because he’ll be under some heat.”

Despite having only a six-day turnaround from beating Italy in Rome on Sunday, Jones opted to make just two changes to his starting XV, with Danny Care replacing the injured Ben Youngs and Jonathan Joseph coming in for Ben Te’o.

On the Joseph decision, Jones added: “It’s just my gut feeling with Joseph. I feel he will start the game well against Wales. Jonathan’s got great experience, he’s fast, a great defensive player.

“We were very happy with Te’o last week, but it’s also his second game back and, in my experience with players in their second game back from a long injury, it’s always the most difficult game.”

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Wales’ win against Scotland came despite a mounting injury list, and Jones recognised Warren Gatland’s side will have a different mindset.

“Wales played really well against Scotland but it’s going to be different on Saturday – they had no expectation on them last Saturday but this week they come full of expectation,” he said.

“Everyone has been telling them how well they played. Warren Gatland’s been talking a lot this week. He’s confident. They’re confident.”

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Trevor 18 minutes ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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