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Eddie Jones: England 'drinking sessions' planned

Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones insists England must continue scaling their Everest as he reflects on the off-field bonding that has helped propel his team into genuine World Cup contention.

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Ireland were overwhelmed 57-15 at Twickenham on Saturday in a victory that sent records tumbling as a highest number of tries and points scored against their Six Nations rivals also contributed to the greatest winning margin.

A mighty performance issued a statement with one last warm-up Test remaining – against Italy in Newcastle on Friday week – before the squad departs for Japan on September 8.

Having been involved in four previous World Cups, Jones compares preparation for the tournament to climbing a mountain.

And critical to reaching their current position has been the social events held at a recent training camp in Treviso that may have seen Mike Brown and Ben Te’o lock horns, but was invaluable for others.

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“You have ideas in your head but you never know exactly where you need to be because you don’t know where the opposition are,” Jones said.

“If we’re at the bottom of Mount Everest, we’ve got to plan to be at base camp three by now, but if everyone else is at base camp five, then your plan is wrong.

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“You’ve got to keep evaluating, keep looking. The only thing you do know is that you’ve got to keep going forward and that’s hard.

“It’s like climbing a mountain, the higher you get, the more uncomfortable it gets, the ground gets shaky, your ears start to burn, your nose starts to run.

“And that’s where we’re getting into that territory because we’ve got to push it forward again.”

Te’o and Brown were involved in an altercation in north-east Italy and were subsequently overlooked for the World Cup squad.

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“When you have the team together for longer, the players can work out problems and develop better relationships,” Jones said.

“For an England side that is quite a difficult thing because you’ve got 12 clubs that all have different philosophies and the players are employed by the clubs. If someone pays you money, you’re loyal to that club.

“To have time together as a team and for them to work out differences for a better relationship is massive for us.

“In a Test week, it’s business all the time because now we have time to have other types of sessions. They’re not all drinking sessions but we do have some drinking sessions.”

England return to Treviso this week for the second of their two ‘heat camps’, which Jones insists will be like a “mini pre-season” as he prepares to raise the intensity once more, declaring “it’s the only way we can get better”.

An eight-try demolition of Ireland – considered fellow title contenders – has set minds racing over what could unfold this autumn, but number eight Billy Vunipola knows what must happen next to justify the hype.

“I would like to see that performance away from home. That is the biggest thing for me. I have said it to Eddie in the changing rooms,” Vunipola said.

“It’s something we need to start doing away from Twickenham. That is the biggest challenge next, going to Japan and doing it away from all our fans and the comforts of our home changing room.

“Our next game is against Italy but our biggest game is against Tonga. We need to put out performances like Ireland more consistently.”

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 3 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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