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Thursday

12:00

Jones quickly starts England build-up to Wales with Stereophonics reference and Llanelli 'stadium' quip

Liam Heagney

21 Nov 2020

(Photo by Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Eddie Jones mentioned The Stereophonics and referenced the unusual use of Llanelli as a Test match venue as England moved on from their comfortable home win over Ireland and swiftly began the build-up to next Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup game away to Wales.

The 2019 World Cup finalists are enjoying a six-match winning run that has taken them to Six Nations glory and put them top of their Nations Cup group in recent weeks, form in stark contrast to Wales who snapped their six-game losing streak with a dour 18-0 win over Georgia.

With an assignment against Wales next on their list, England boss Jones didn’t hang about switching the focus to next weekend after the Irish were easily sent packing on an 18-7 scoreline.

Dylan Hartley and Simon Zebo talk Autumn Nations Cup

“Wales is going to be a tough game for us,” insisted Jones. “We know that is their game of the year. They have had a tough run lately and they will be up for that game, so we will need to have a good short, intense preparation for that game.

“We are playing at a ground which is not a stadium, which is unusual to play Test rugby. It will be open to the elements a bit more, so we need to prepare really well,” he said before making his musical reference.

Eddie Jones was left purring on Saturday over how deadly a finisher Jonny May has become #ENGvIRE #AutumnNationsCup ???????
https://t.co/h8gkajsLUW
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 21, 2020

“They [Wales] are always different against us. They wrote a song [As long as we beat the English] about it in 1999 about how the only game that counts is beating England, so we are anticipating a different animal next Saturday and we need to prepare well to be right for them.”

Jones was in an upbeat mood after beating Ireland, refusing to take criticism that England had failed to build on the 18-0 lead they enjoyed 52 minutes into the game at Twickenham. “I’m never disappointed when we beat Ireland. You [the media] can be disappointed, I’m not. I know how hard it is to beat Ireland, I know how hard the boys worked to beat Ireland.

“We have been beaten by them and it’s not a good feeling. So we have got a real good feeling in our dressing room, they probably haven’t got a real good feeling in their dressing room. You can be disappointed, mate, but I’m not.

“That is how he game goes,” he added. “Sometimes it flows your way, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes the elements of the game go against you. We had a considerable advantage in the penalties in the first half and for some reason that changed in the second so it allowed them to get a lot of field position and a lot of ball so we had to defend.”

PLAYER RATINGS
– @alexshawsport ??? rates the England players after a dominant display in Twickenham #ENGvIRE https://t.co/zyXR8kR8mr
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 21, 2020