Actions are supposed to speak louder than words but not when an English rugby team are touring Australia. For the second successive day Eddie Jones has felt the need to have a dig at a former Wallaby, this time for claiming England are cheating in the scrums. He has already received an apology from a former international who asked him a tasteless question following Saturday’s win in the first Test in Brisbane.
The latest target of Jones’s ire is the one-time Wallaby captain Phil Kearns, a summariser for the host broadcaster, Fox Sports, who suggested Dan Cole scrummaged illegally throughout England’s 39-28 victory. Kearns said it was “pretty obvious” Cole “was angling right in the whole time” and urged referees to be more vigilant, prompting Jones to advise this Saturday’s referee, South Africa’s Craig Joubert, to ignore him.
“I’ve got great confidence in Craig Joubert; he’ll referee the game and he won’t let Phil Kearns referee the game,” Jones said. “If Phil Kearns was refereeing Australia would win every game. We are lucky we’ve got a fantastic referee at the weekend … one of the most respected referees in the world. Every side I coach, I coach them to play legally. We want to scrum straight, we want to scrum square and we want to take them.”
It remains Jones’s informed belief, having coached Australia, that there is an orchestrated campaign to destabilise opposition teams, with England having not forgotten the criticism of Joe Marler’s scrummaging by the former Wallaby coach Bob Dwyer just before the hosts’ pool exit in last year’s Rugby World Cup. “Phil is part of an organised campaign and he is playing his role,” Jones said.
“Every couple of days someone comes up with something. I have been part of it, so let’s not beat around the bush, we know how it works here. Now it’s Dan Cole’s turn, next time it’ll be someone else’s turn. Maybe me. I hope they keep attacking me because that takes the pressure off the team. We’ll make sure our scrum is well prepared for the game and we’ll be ready for any tricks the Australians have.”
In almost the same breath, naturally, Jones could be heard musing about the effectiveness of Australia’s lineout, proving every side in the world likes to sow a few seeds of set-piece doubt. Anything the Wallabies attempt on the psychological front Jones is pretty confident he can do better. “In the last couple of Tests their lineout has really been under pressure … I’m sure Stephen Moore, a seasoned international with 100 Tests, will be worried about that area of their game.”
There are signs Jones’s strategy is paying off, with Australians slightly unnerved to be confronted by such a seasoned media operator. He has been in vintage form, unlike Fox Sports, whose reporter Stephen Hoiles has been forced to apologise for suggesting Jones and his fellow Australian assistant coach Glen Ella had looked “lubed up” while congratulating each other on England’s win.
The same channel also put out a less-than-subtle promotional film, which Jones described on Sunday as “disgusting, demeaning and disrespectful to the team” but the coach long ago developed a sufficiently thick skin not to be offended indefinitely. “They can say whatever they want, we’re just getting on with our preparation. We’ve had a good week in Brisbane and we’ll have a good week in Melbourne. They’re all entitled to their opinion and they can get on with it. We’ll worry about ourselves.”
What is not in dispute is England’s desire to create history by winning the three-Test series, something they have never done in the southern hemisphere. Even the combined British and Irish Lions have seldom managed it, and Jones has been invoking the memory of the 2001 Lions tour when Australia, as now, lost the first Test in Brisbane before winning in both Melbourne and Sydney.
The message, accordingly, has been to tighten up their defence, guard against any complacency and, if possible, complete the job this weekend with a game to spare. “History shows that in the professional era the Wallabies have never lost the second Test [of a three-Test series],” Jones said. “If you look back at the 2001 and 2013 Lions series, the Wallabies have always bounced back. They love being underdogs.”
With George Ford and Owen Farrell in line to resume their 10-12 partnership, there is certainly no lack of England incentive. “We want to win this series and we’ve got an opportunity on Saturday, so we’ll be as desperate as the Australians – even more desperate when you consider the history of the English game in Australia,” Jones said. “We have to play our best 80 minutes of the season; we’ll worry about what it means to the team after that.”
