Eddie Jones has said England beat the “god of rugby” with their historic World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand but believes they will have to get even better to lift the trophy next Saturday. England moved to No 1 in the world rankings for the first time since 2004 after reaching their first World Cup final in 12 years but Jones insisted his side must complete the job against either Wales or South Africa to justify that billing.
Manu Tuilagi’s second-minute try and four George Ford penalties sealed England’s first World Cup win over the All Blacks and took them to within 80 minutes of emulating Clive Woodward’s class of 2003 and achieve their own sporting immortality.
It was a sixth career win for Jones against New Zealand and one of the most impressive performances in World Cup history.
“New Zealand are the god of rugby, so we had to take it to them,” he said. “We wanted to take it to them and show we could take the game to them, try to put them on the back foot as much as we could.
“They are a great team. They have won two World Cups in a row. They have got a great coach, a great captain, so we had to battle hard.
“You always go in with an idea of how you want the game to be, but it never goes exactly like that. You have got to give so much credit to New Zealand, the way they kept fighting right until the end. We had to dig deep.”
Regardless of who wins Sunday’s second semi-final between Wales and South Africa, England will go into the final as favourites, having started Saturday’s semi-final as underdogs, given that New Zealand were the reigning two-times world champions.
Asked where it ranked in terms of England’s greatest performances, Jones said: “We have another week and we’re looking forward to it. We’re not historians, we don’t know but we know that we can play better next week. We’re going to have to play better next week, whoever we play against.”
Jones will pit his wits against the Springboks, for whom he worked as a consultant for their 2007 World Cup triumph, or renew rivalries with Warren Gatland, but said he had no preference. “We don’t control that. But I’ll definitely come and watch the game,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to Wales and South Africa playing a 3-3 draw, so they have to play extra time, it’s still 3-3 and they have to play more extra time.”
Making the victory all the more impressive was the fact that their captain, Owen Farrell, picked up a leg injury during the first half. He was unable to kick at goal thereafter but ended up as England’s joint-top tackler.
“Owen and the leaders on the field were absolutely exceptional,” said Jones. “They kept the team discipline, kept to our gameplan, kept attacking where we thought New Zealand were weak and didn’t divert from that. They were able to get a bit of physical ascendancy [in the forwards]. It’s always a battle.”
Tuilagi was the chief protagonist the last time England beat New Zealand back in 2012 and he was among the standout performers again. In the past seven years he has been blighted by injuries and after his try proved decisive in seeing off the All Blacks he said: “It’s beyond my dreams. It’s an unbelievable feeling. It was amazing to get through to the semis. Standing here now and we’re in the final.”
The New Zealand head coach, Steve Hansen, who steps down after the World Cup after eight years at the helm, was magnanimous in defeat and conceded that England fully deserved their place in the final. He also acknowledged that with the benefit of hindsight he would not have selected Scott Barrett, a lock by trade, in the back row, having taken him off at half-time.
He reacted angrily, however, when his captain, Kieran Read, was asked whether New Zealand had been hungry enough to achieve victory. He said: “They’re desperate to win the game, just because I’ve asked them at half-time to get hungrier doesn’t mean they didn’t turn up to be hungry.
“There’s a big difference and if you want to spend some time outside, I’ll give you a rugby education on that one. To turn up and say that an All Blacks team comes to a semi-final of the Rugby World Cup with the amount of ability and the history that it’s had behind it – that’s a pretty average question.”
