Jones urges England to pass ‘test of manhood’
ENGLAND are ready to pass a ‘test of manhood’ in Paris this evening by subjecting France to a brutal backlash after the shock defeat by Scotland.
Eddie Jones’s team still have an outside chance of defending their Six Nations title but their primary target is to beat an imposing home side. The visitors know what is required.
‘We have to be brutal,’ said head coach Jones. ‘You know every time you play against the French it is a test of your manhood.
‘You hear those old stories from French club rugby when at the kickoff they deliberately kicked into touch then want to scrum you. We have to beat them on the gain line and in the scrum.
‘I know, having played France with Australia, that when you play them at the Stade de France or in Marseilles, it is always a big physical game. They are the European version of the South Africans: they are big, they are physical and they want to hurt you.’
England want to hurt France too, by stopping their most potent threat — the marauding Mathieu Bastareaud. The giant Toulon centre starts the game with an imaginary target on his head,
Jones and his assistants have reshuffled their back line, with Ben Te’o brought in to start at outside centre, in order to do a destructive man-marking job on wrecking ball Bastareaud.
Te’o showed in the first Lions Test last year how well he can handle such duties, by smashing Sonny Bill Williams halfway into the following week.
The explosive cross-coder is well aware of the significance of today’s encounter. ‘There’s a lot riding on this — it’s our opportunity to put right the last game,’ he said. ‘We’re on a long journey to the World Cup. There will be times when there’s a stumbling block and you have to look at yourself and learn. We must get better at assessing things midgame and changing tactics.’
That ability to adapt on the hoof is urgently needed. Assessing France and Bastareaud, Te’o added: ‘It’s a fierce rivalry and we’re two physical teams across the water from each other, so there are going to be fireworks.
‘I’m a big guy but I’m up against a bigger guy! You don’t see many midfielders of Bastareaud’s size running around.
‘He’s big but he can move. He’s strong and has an off-load. I watched him the other week and he was destructive. We’ll have a job on our hands to stop him. Fingers crossed I’ll have the opportunity to get in there.’
When pressed on Bastareaud, Jones chimed in: ‘He’s a bit of an icon for them. He’s been built up as the guy who’s going to regenerate French rugby. So it’s important that, early in the game, we let him know he’s going to have a tough day in the office.’
England need a bonus-point win to have a realistic chance of a title ‘three-peat’ and Jones added: ‘It is a Test match and our priority is to win it, but if we are in a position where we need to push on for a bonus, of course we will do that.’
But France fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc warned they are ready for the fight.
‘The English will want to make up for their defeat by Scotland. It will be hard and rough, but we have qualities that we need to show,’ he said. ‘In rugby terms they play better than us, but if we stop them playing, work hard at the breakdown, be aggressive in defence, like Scotland were, then we can make it difficult for them.’
England scrum coach Neal Hatley admits the battle at the breakdown is key, adding: ‘We respect the threat that France offer at the breakdown so it’s been a big area of focus.’