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Eddie Jones admits 'jungle tiger' Kyle Sinckler's temperament is a worry

By PA
England's Kyle Sinckler. (Photo by Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Eddie Jones insists “jungle tiger” Kyle Sinckler will never be fully tamed as the England prop marked his return from suspension with an all-action display against Italy.

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Sinckler made his first appearance of the Guinness Six Nations in Saturday’s 41-18 victory at Twickenham after completing a two-week ban for swearing at a referee, and was named man of the match.

The fiery Bristol prop has worked hard to curb the wilder instincts that resulted in previous scrapes with rugby’s judiciary and Jones has set him the target of becoming the best tighthead in the game.

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Owen Farrell honest about England rugby title chances after Italy win | Six Nations 2021

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Owen Farrell honest about England rugby title chances after Italy win | Six Nations 2021

“There always is a worry,” said Jones. “He’s still a jungle tiger and jungle tigers can always go.

“In the most he behaves like a zoo tiger but still with the fight of a jungle tiger, so we just have to keep managing that.

“I just see him maturing massively as a rugby player. He was a hot-headed individual type with a lot of potential and now what we’re seeing is a maturing, professional, committed player who is producing performances consistently.

“If you look at the way he played for us in the autumn and now the first game back in the Six Nations, he’s going to be close to being the best tighthead in the world and that’s his target, that’s where we want him to get. I’m really pleased with his progress.”

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The trigger for Sinckler’s outburst at referee Karl Dickson when Bristol beat Exeter in the Gallagher Premiership last month was the official’s decision not to punish a tackle by Luke Cowan-Dickie that the Lions front row felt to be dangerous.

Turning once again to an organisation called ‘Saviour World’, a life-coaching programme for men, Sinckler quickly looked inwards as he came to terms with his suspension.

“Obviously there was massive frustration at the time, but once I broke it down and was speaking to my mentor at Saviour World I had to take full responsibility for my actions,” Sinckler said.

“The easiest thing I could have done is blame externally and look for excuses. But I hold my hands up, I understand where I went wrong. I take full responsibility.

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“I came to the understanding of how much of an inspiration you are to the younger generation and how much they do look up to you. You just have to be very, very careful.

“I guess the easiest thing to say would be that it was heat of the moment stuff, it was a dangerous tackle etc. etc., but I have to be accountable for my actions.

“I was frustrated at the time, but then as soon as the hearing decision was made I cracked on and I put a plan in place with my own personal team, just got my head down and grafted.

“I just loved being out there against Italy. I truly love the game. Hopefully people saw how much it means to me just to play rugby.

“I still think I have a lot more growth. I’m nowhere near the player I want to be and there’s a lot of hard work to be done.”

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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 2 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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