Jones puts Gatland in his (playoff) place
Eddie Jones’ ongoing war with Warren Gatland heated up with the England coach having a snarky dig at Wales playing for the bronze medal at the Rugby World Cup.
Gatland openly questioned whether England might have peaked a game too soon with their stunning semifinal win over the All Blacks.
England now meet South Africa in Saturday’s final with New Zealand and Wales contesting the bronze medal match in Tokyo on Friday.
‘‘We have seen in previous World Cups that teams sometimes play their final in semifinals and don’t always turn up for a final,’’ Gatland said.
‘‘So it will be interesting to see how England are next week and it could be a good game.’’
Jones insists England can take their game to another level for the title match with the Springboks and offered a stinging rebuke to Gatland when asked about the Welsh coach’s assumption.
‘‘Well, guys, can you just send my best wishes to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third and fourth place playoff,’’ Jones said.
The job isn’t completed yet but Australian
Jones is happy to be bringing some joy to Britain in the midst of their political problems.
‘‘It’s great. You give the country something to cheer about and with Brexit at the moment they probably need something to cheer about,’’ Jones said.
‘‘It’s the job of a team to make the country happy and we’ve made the country happy. Not as happy as they can be because there is still a game to go as we’ve said.
‘‘The crowds here generally in the World Cup have been fantastic and I thought our supporters on Saturday night were massively instrumental in helping us get home.
‘‘Their singing and their general support of the team has been outstanding. We urge them to keep doing that.’’