Jones plays mind games on ‘tired’ Wales
Eddie Jones has ramped up the pressure on Wales ahead of their attempt to win a Six Nations grand slam by claiming that Warren Gatland’s side are ‘‘looking tired’’ and will face an Ireland team who are ‘‘peaking’’ in Cardiff tomorrow.
A defeat for Wales by an Ireland side also with an outside chance of the title would open the door for England, who face Scotland at Twickenham in the final match of ‘‘Super Saturday’’, to win the championship for the third time in four years under head coach Jones.
Wales are aiming for a third grand slam under Gatland, in his final Six Nations before he steps down after the World Cup in Japan in November.
His side produced their finest display of their campaign in beating England in Cardiff last month but struggled during the second half in their 18-11 victory over Scotland in Murrayfield last weekend.
Jones questioned whether Wales were running out of steam as they approached the finishing line.
‘‘Wales are a very good team, they are very well coached, great credit to them for what they have done – but they are starting to look a bit tired,’’ Jones said.
‘‘They have made more tackles than anyone else in the tournament and they are playing against an Ireland side that seems to be peaking at the right time.
‘‘You look at guys like Conor Murray, [Johnny] Sexton, [Garry] Ringrose, [Peter] O’mahoney, guys that weren’t in great form at the start of the tournament are now starting to come to the fore. I am sure the crowd will help Wales overcome that tiredness, but it’s going to be a great game.
‘‘I’m just saying what I see, mate. I see a team that’s looking tired, I see an Ireland team that’s peaking but they’re a good team Wales. They’re well coached and I’m sure they’ll handle it.’’
Gatland swiftly hit back, pointing out that England have in fact made more tackles than any other side in the championship – 793 to Wales’s 660.
‘‘What the hell is Eddie Jones doing talking about our game?’’ he said with a laugh.
‘‘If it was me I’d be concentrating on playing Scotland. I’ve got no comment on Eddie talking about us.
‘‘If you look at the stats England have made a hell of a lot more tackles than us in this tournament. My advice to Eddie is to concentrate on the Scotland match.’’
Jones, who has made four changes from the side who defeated Italy, including the surprise omission of Joe Cokanasiga from the 23-man squad, offered an upbeat assessment of the condition of his own players, predicting their best performance would come tomorrow.
‘‘We had a training run on Wednesday which in terms of all the GPS was by far our most impressive,’’ he said. ‘‘So we’re going in a great direction and Saturday will be a bit of an explosion.
‘‘There’s a great deal of urgency about what we want to do, what we want to play, the point that we want to prove.
‘‘We want to be the best team in the world and we know we’re not the best team in the world, but we have got an opportunity on Saturday (Sunday NZT) to show
that we’re the best team in the Six Nations and approaching the best team in the world, and we’re not going to miss that opportunity.’’
Cokanasiga’s omission sees Jack Nowell return to the right wing, with Henry Slade also returning at outside centre, Manu Tuilagi
switching back to inside centre and Ben Te’o dropping to the bench, as Jones reverts to the back line who defeated Ireland in Dublin in the
opening round.
In the pack, Ben Moon returns at loosehead in place of Ellis Genge, while Mark Wilson starts on the blindside flank ahead of Brad Shields.
Ben Youngs will become England’s most-capped halfback when he makes his 85th appearance, moving ahead of Danny Care.
The Cokanasiga decision was the main focus of yesterday’s press conference, given the public acclaim he received for his man-of-the-match performance against Italy.
Jones has a long history of ignoring public opinion in his selection decisions, the omissions of Danny Cipriani, Don Armand and, until this championship, Dan Robson, all in that category.
Jones insisted, however, that Cokanasiga was being held back for his own development, similar to how he brought Maro Itoje into the side in a graduated manner.
Jones said he had ‘‘a good plan in place’’ for the 21-year-old and that ‘‘he’ll be ready by the World Cup’’.
‘‘With young players, particularly in this environment, you’ve got to look after them,’’ Jones said. ‘‘I want him to play 100 tests for England – I don’t want him to just play 10 tests. Sometimes you push young guys forward and sometimes you’ve got to pull them back.
‘‘It’s about taking a measured approach at the start of their career, letting them develop their game and expose them to the right games, then you get a good player – and that is what we are doing with him.
‘‘It’s a bit like in cricket. When you’re a young batsman and your first test is against the West Indies in Perth and you bat No 3, you might not get too many runs. So you pick a test where they are playing on a flat track, bat them at six, let them get runs, then you bring them in the next test and you quietly build them up.’’
Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who has made six changes, has admitted that he takes personal blame for his side’s mediocre Six Nations performance. ‘‘It has not been good enough,’’ he said. ‘‘Ultimately that is on me.’’
The most interesting of his changes is the decision to bring back Sam Johnson to combat the powerful Tuilagi at 12.
‘‘I’m just saying what I see, mate. I see a team that’s looking tired.’’ ‘‘My advice to Eddie is to concentrate on the Scotland match.’’