Part of Eddie Jones would love to wind up as many Welshmen as possible between now and Saturday. The rest of him is slightly more circumspect because England are not where he would ideally like to be after the opening 80 minutes of this year’s Six Nations. There is obvious room for improvement and delivering motivational team talks to their hosts is not necessarily going to help.
So, having previously wondered aloud why English rugby teams have historically struggled to defeat a country of three million people, the Australian is now concentrating his efforts on persuading his players their trip to Cardiff is just another fixture.
“I want the players to be on song every time we play for England,” he said, having spent a sleepless night trying to work out why his side started so sluggishly against France. “It doesn’t matter if we are playing Hong Kong or Sri Lanka, we want that same intensity.”
It is a nice try but demystifying the Cardiff experience is easier said than done. James Haskell, among those with sweet and sour memories of the now-restyled Principality Stadium, reckons the key is finding the right mental balance, as England did two years ago in a highly efficient, smart 21-16 away win. “When we went there [in 2013] and lost the grand slam we were a bit wet behind the ears in terms of what to expect,” said Haskell. “Last time we understood. It is about not being distracted by the sideshow, by the crowd and the noise. You have to go there, deliver your job and then leave.
“It is important to understand Wales will come at us very fired up, match that passion and deal with the game in little sections. If anything goes right, realise why it is going right and keep doing it. If something goes wrong, how can we adjust it on the spot? That is what sides have done there when we have won.”
Haskell addressed a team meeting to that effect on Monday but, despite his energetic cameo off the bench against France, the Wasps flanker is likely to remain an impact sub for now. The 31-year-old has played very little rugby since undergoing toe surgery last summer and rushing him back does not seem a priority.
“I wouldn’t think so at this stage,” said Jones. “He had a serious injury and has got through two-thirds of a club game and 20 minutes of Test rugby. It is important we keep building him up. He might be ready by the end of the tournament to start starting games.”
The key change Jones does wish to engineer is less a matter of personnel and more a psychological shift. An inability to sleep in the early hours of Sunday morning – “The dog was unhappy and the wife was unhappy” – allowed him a few extra hours of contemplation in which he reached a couple of conclusions.
The first was that England had over-complicated their build-up: “The main mistake we made was adding some things to our preparation. They are going to be beneficial further down the track [at the 2019 Rugby World Cup] but sometimes it takes away focus. We’re experiencing some short-term pain but this week we’ll be a bit more focused; we will pare things down.”
Secondly, he will demand his team play at a higher emotional pitch than at the weekend. “We’ve seen it with Munster. You saw it with the Crusaders in New Zealand when they lost their home ground to the massive earthquake and had to play every game away. They ended up making the final which was remarkable. Getting the emotional part right is the most difficult thing.”
Winning a few more tackle-area collisions would help, with Wales having had a day less recovery time, but there is a need for cool heads, too. Until they actually take the field Jones wants his players to treat the occasion as no big deal – even if a Welsh fan headbutts the moving England team bus as happened in 2001 – and is applying a similar policy to the perennial debate over the stadium roof being open or shut.
“We want the attitude that it doesn’t matter what happens,” said Jones, yet to clarify whether or not he would prefer the roof to be closed. “If they start throwing daffodils during the warm-up or make us stand out there for 15 minutes or we have an oscillating roof, what else could they do? [It’s important] we can cope with all that.
“Talk to anyone who has played in an England-Wales game and they say Wales always get better because they are playing England.
“I can’t work out why they can get better and England can’t. To me it is one of the great challenges of Test rugby: to go to those places and play in those areas. You find if you play well that supporters aren’t saying the same at the end of the game as they were at the start.”
Along with everyone else, meanwhile, Jones had only warm words of appreciation for the late Joost van der Westhuizen, having first encountered the scrum-half during his days as Brumbies coach.
“He played and they beat us easily. He was a modern-day half-back even then: big and fast and he could control a game. He’s definitely one of the best. It’s very sad for him, his family and South African rugby.”
Ireland will not rush Sexton back
Ireland could still hold Johnny Sexton back from facing Italy despite the fly-half nearing full fitness for Saturday’s clash. Sexton was sidelined with calf trouble for the 27-22 loss in Scotland that leaves Ireland chasing four victories to stand a chance of contesting the 2017 Six Nations crown.
Team manager Paul Dean said: “Johnny is continuing his rehab and his progress will be monitored across the week, but he’s back running which is very positive. As you well know, Johnny would play today if we’d let him but we have to monitor his recovery and make sure he’s fine.”
Prop Tadhg Furlong is expected to be fit to face Italy despite a “bruised shoulder”, while Donnacha Ryan and Finlay Bealham are both back in full training. Wings Andrew Trimble and Andrew Conway are both expected to overcome groin injuries to be available to face Italy. PA
Fagerson warns Scotland not to get carried away
Zander Fagerson warned Scotland need to cut down on errors and deliver 80-minute performances if they are to challenge for the Six Nations title.
Vern Cotter’s side overturned a second-half fightback from Ireland to win 27-22 on Saturday and open the championship with victory for the first time in 11 years. However, Fagerson was keen to point out that Scotland, who face France on Sunday, will not get carried away.
“We’ll look back at the tape and see what we did well and what we didn’t,” he said. “We’ll also have to see what threats France will pose us. I think Saturday’s result will give us a lot of confidence - but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s only one game. We made a hell of a lot of errors so if we want to be the best team, we need to scrub them out and put in an 80-minute performance.” PA
