Jones backs England to get physical with Ireland in ‘semifinal’

LONDON – Eddie Jones has promised England will play with a “physicality” unknown to Ireland in what he has billed as a Six Nations “semifinal” at Twickenham on Saturday.

Defeat for either side in the penultimate round of the 2022 Championship would effectively end their title hopes, with France bidding to go one step nearer a coveted Grand Slam against Wales in Cardiff the night before.

England started this Six Nations with a defeat by Scotland and have so far managed a meagre seven tries in three games.

Jones, however, believes England are coming into their own as they did in an Autumn series that culminated with a thrilling 27-26 win over South Africa – the team that beat his side in the 2019 World Cup final in Japan.

“We’ve now surpassed, in terms of our conditioning and cohesiveness where we were against South Africa,” said England coach Jones. “We’ll see that progress on Saturday and get after Ireland.”

The veteran Australian boss added: “Ireland haven’t played against a team like us before, they haven’t played against South Africa since 2017. We played with a physicality they haven’t seen before.”

England, who saw off reigning champions Wales 23-19 last time out, have a tough fortnight, playing Ireland a week before they complete the Championship against France in Paris.

Lose both games and they could finish fifth for the second season in a row.

Jones’ current contract runs until after the end of the 2023 World Cup and the 62-year-old has repeatedly said that England’s performance at next year’s global showpiece in France is the standard by which he expects to be judged.

“If these projects were a linear progression, then everyone would do it and it would be easy,” he said. “It’s not. Obviously, we want to win the next game. That is our priority.

“But if we don’t, then we are still making good progress, we are still developing as a team and we will learn from that.”

‘WAVE COMING IN’

Jones has recalled powerful ball-carrier Sam Simmonds at No 8 in place of Alex Dombrandt, on the bench after a bout of COVID-19, and installed Joe Marchant at outside centre alongside Henry Slade.

As for a misfiring England attack, with rising star Marcus Smith still at fly-half, Jones insisted: “We’re not far away. We’re one pass, one accurate kick, one good support line away from being very good. But we’re a work in progress.

“The game’s always about scoring tries but that will come. We’d like to be this week, but if not it might be next week.

“If it’s not next week, it might be on the Australian tour.

“But it’s coming. It’s like that wave coming in. You can see it coming in and all of a sudden it crashes and all this power comes out of it. That’s what we’ll be like.”

Jones has labelled Ireland as “red-hot favourites” even though they have lost seven of their previous eight matches at Twickenham.

Ireland coach Andy Farrell, a former England dual-code international, asked Thursday if there was such a thing as a “Twickenham factor”, replied: “There must be something in it.

“But it’s part of the journey, isn’t it?,” added Farrell who won’t face son Owen this weekend as England’s regular captain has been sidelined for the whole Six Nations with an ankle injury.

Farrell senior, who has recalled veteran Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton, has been spoken of as a future England coach when Jones, for whom he has played and worked, steps down.

And he was sympathetic when it was put to him that an Ireland win would lead to speculation about the position of Jones, who has led England to three Six Nations titles, including a 2016 Grand Slam.

“It’s certainly part and parcel of the modern game, we’re all under pressure the whole time and we all realise that,” said Farrell, who hailed Jones’ “character and charisma”.

“You look at Eddie’s record across his career, it is second to none, so that says it all really.”