New Zealand is your Everest, England players told
Eddie Jones has challenged his players to scale their sporting Everest by beating New Zealand and says that this Sunday (Fiji time) will provide a benchmark for youngsters such as Freddie Steward, Jack van Poortvliet and Marcus Smith.
In spite of a turbulent year that has featured four defeats, the All Blacks head into their final assignment of 2022 on the back of six successive victories.
“Everyone’s excited,” said Jones ahead of this third meeting with New Zealand as the England head coach.
“This is like if you’re a mountain climber going to the top of Mount Everest.
“They (the All Blacks) are historically the most successful team in world rugby and the team you want to play against. For young guys like Freddie Steward or a JVP or a Marcus, this is where you benchmark yourself against the rest of the world.”
Earlier in the day, Jones admitted that he often feels consumed by selfdoubt over his role as England head coach.
In an interview for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Jones also suggested that he has attracted “immature” criticism from those who believe “it’s the end of the world” when England are “below where we need to be”.
Asked whether media commentary was the chief source of such “noise”, Jones revealed his own doubts, as well as his inspiration for continuing in coaching.
“It can be that, but I wake up every morning and, generally, I think: ‘Am I good enough to coach this team’,” he said.
“I’ve always got that noise in my head and I think it’s a fairly common noise for most people involved in high performance. I think that’s the thing that has motivated me to keep coaching.
“I want to continually be a better coach and I want to produce a team that can play rugby like no other team.
“That’s where we’re aiming for and that inspires me to get up in the morning and do the job.”
The match kicks off at 5.30am and is shown live on Sky Pacific.
Line-ups England:
15 Freddie Steward, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Sam Simmonds, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Will Stuart, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Guy Porter, 23 Henry Slade
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Scott Barrett, 5 Sam Whitelock (c), 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 George Bower, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Shannon Frizell, 20 Hoskins Sotutu, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 David Havili, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
Match officials
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France); Assistant Referees: Damon Murphy (Australia), Nika Amashukeli (Georgia); TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland).
-The Telegraph