Jones calls on power of belief

BELIEF can be a powerful emotion. Eddie Jones sure hopes so. His men will need to extract every ounce, and even then it might not be enough to get past the wellrested, highly motivated All Blacks at Twickenham.

How different this week could have been for England. Had the Springboks embraced a smidgen more clinical finishing; had referee Angus Gardner gone the other way on Owen Farrell’s controversial tackle at the death, had Handre Pollard knocked over his late penalty attempt, England would be under siege — Jones edging closer to the chopping block.

Fine margins indeed.

One point was the difference in the end — and Jones has savoured the precarious positive vibes his squad is now embracing, following two wins from their past seven tests, as he extolled the benefits of the narrowest of victories gained solely through penalties.

While England’s players offered more measured thoughts about the All Blacks, Jones resembled a miniature cat on hot tiles, such was the enthusiasm he attempted to project.

‘‘I didn’t need this to make me believe we can beat the All Blacks — I thought we’d beat the All Blacks back in 2016, so nothing has changed, mate,’’ Jones said, reflecting back to the start of his turbulent tenure.

‘‘I said to the boys after the game, ‘I can’t wait’. They are the benchmark in world rugby. They are who you want to play against. ‘‘Where you are in the world, you only know when you’ve played against the All Blacks. Any team that wins 91% of their games is a great team. What other teams in world sport do that?’’

Jones would be pleased to hear messages emanating from England’s Lions contingent, the likes of worldclass first fiveeighth Farrell and midfielder Ben Te’o, who may draw on experiences from their second test victory in Wellington last year.

‘‘Course we believe anyone can be beaten,’’ Farrell said.

‘‘I don’t think any team is unbeatable. I’m sure people will talk about all different sorts of things this week but we’ve got to get better and that shows on the pitch.

‘‘They’re a very good team with some very good players and obvi ously they’ve got belief in what they do because they stick in games for a long time and normally come away with a win.

‘‘We’ve moved a long way since 2017, and I’m sure they’ve moved on, too. We’ve got to look a bit more recent. The main thing is we get excited for what’s coming but at the same time we’re ready for anything. We’ve got to go in with clear heads and see what’s infront of us.

‘‘We know it’s going to be a big test.’’

Jones at least appreciates the fullstrength All Blacks are a completely different beast to the Boks, who, other than Damian de Allende, largely adopted a limited, direct approach to attack.

Jones predicted Steve Hansen’s men will be keen to run from everywhere, and put the ball in the air, but might also be wise to note the All Blacks’ set piece strengths.

With England’s injury issues, particularly in the loose forwards and loose head prop, and its major struggles at the scrum and defending the Boks’ rolling maul, the All Blacks may opt to target Jones’ heavilydepleted pack before unleashing threats wider out.

The All Blacks, having given the vast majority of their firstchoice 23 last week off, have the advantage of beginning preparations in much better physical shape, too.

Jones will therefore, need to concoct something special if England are to deliver on belief. That alone is unlikely to be enough. — NZME