Jones to check out possible quarter-final opponents rather than watch Argentina
Eddie Jones has chosen to overlook England’s next World Cup opponents Argentina on his scouting mission this weekend in favour of seeing possible quarter-final foes Wales.
The Pumas clash with Tonga in Osaka on Saturday ahead of a heavyweight Pool C showdown in Tokyo a week later when England will look to put one foot into the knockout stage.
But rather than watch that game, Jones will use the break weekend when his players have been given time to spend with their families to examine Warren Gatland’s Grand Slam champions, who his team may face in the last eight.
“I won’t watch that game (Argentina v Tonga). I’ll watch other games. I’ll go and watch Australia vs Wales,” Jones said.
Jones has signalled a ceasefire in his feud with World Rugby after praising its success in raising the standards of tier two nations competing at the World Cup.
England have launched their group campaign with comfortable bonus-point wins over Tonga and USA, the two smaller teams in Pool C that have acted as a curtain raiser to the pivotal meetings with Argentina and France.
But while both victories were secured with minimal fuss, they were notable for the stubborn resistance offered by the underdogs to continue a theme evident so far at Japan 2019.
For the first time in nine instalments of the World Cup no team has scored 50 points in a match in the opening week, ending the blight of landslide wins against smaller nations that have scarred previous tournaments.
There will be no All Blacks present at next year’s Tokyo Olympics as the New Zealand sevens side push for a maiden gold medal.https://t.co/YlQyVgQ1zz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 28, 2019
Jones has been critical of World Rugby during the summer, describing it as ‘Big Brother’ on one occasion, but he has been impressed by the work put into closing the gap.
“You’re seeing the tier two countries much better physically prepared,” England’s head coach said.
“We’ve played against Tonga and America now and both of them had big, physical packs.
“They’re fitter than they ever have been and that’s a great thing for the World Cup because we’ve got these tier two countries fighting hard and it’s producing some great rugby.
“It’s a credit to World Rugby. They don’t get too many credits but they should get credit for driving tier two development. It’s great for the game.”
A complaint often levelled at the sport’s powerhouses is that they do not play their less established rivals frequently enough.
“World rugby is like having a little brother – they always want more. There’s always only so much you can do, but just look at how competitive they’ve been at the World Cup,” Jones said.
“They’ve had better preparation and there’s more organisation put into their structure.
“Their players are better prepared physically and there are young players coming through. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly moving in the right direction.”
England’s players have been given the weekend off to spend time with family before heading to Tokyo on Sunday to begin preparations for the clash with Argentina.
“We’ll review the game against the USA and look at the 23 we need to play against Argentina,” Jones said.
“We’ll consider the conditions because Tokyo will be 27 degrees and 80 per cent humidity.
“It’s going to be a wet weather game, so we’ll pick a side to play wet weather rugby. The sun might be shining but it will be wet weather.
“This World Cup is unique because of the conditions – it’s never been played in these conditions before.”
– PA
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments