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Eddie Jones says England are ready for shenanigans from “cunning” Wales on Saturday and admitted his coaching ahead of the Six Nations victory over France was not up to scratch.
Jones continued to fan the flames in the build-up to the clash in Cardiff this weekend after stating earlier in the week that he cannot understand why England’s record in Wales is so “horrendous”.
Chris Robshaw refused to lead England out first when the fierce rivals met at the Principality Stadium two years ago, aware that Wales were planning to keep them waiting.
And England head coach Jones said his side will be prepared for more mind games in the Welsh capital.
“We are prepared to win. We are prepared for any shenanigans that might go on and we are looking forward to it.” said the straight-talking Australian, who has not decided whether the roof should be closed in Cardiff.
“I think we are bloody excited about playing there to be honest. We are disappointed about how we played against France last week and it’s a great opportunity to play in one of the great stadiums of the world.”
Asked about what shenanigans he might be referring to, Jones replied: “They are a cunning lot the Welsh aren’t they? They always have been. They’ve got goats, they’ve got daffodils, they have got everything, so who knows.”
The defending champions came from behind to beat France 19-16 at Twickenham on the opening weekend of the tournament and Jones conceded he did not prepare his side as well as he should have.
“We all make mistakes, we’re all human. I make mistakes every day. We got a few things wrong, I don’t think my coaching of the team was great.” he said.
“We want to win the Six Nations but we are building towards the World Cup, so we’ve got a number of strategies and different methodologies in place longer term and some of those become a bit of a distraction short term.
“So this week we’ve pared back a bit and focused on the things that are going to count for the Test match preparation.”
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