England coach gets telling-off from mum for swearing
LONDON: England head coach Eddie Jones has apologised for swearing on television after Saturday’s stuttering win over Argentina – having received a telling-off from his 93-year-old mother.
Australian Jones, 57, was frustrated by his team’s patchy performance in their 21-8 victory at Twickenham and his frustration boiled over during a post-match interview.
“I have apologised for the language I used,” Jones told the BBC. “I got a phone call this morning from my mother – who is 93 – rapping me over the knuckles.
“I am in trouble with my mother and that’s a big enough punishment for me. She still tells me not to swear. I am in the dog house and certainly won’t do it again.”
England’s underwhelming win failed to excite the crowd and Jones acknowledged that it had not been the most entertaining match.
“I think everyone was a bit frustrated on Saturday and I was one of them, and I should have shown more self-control,” he said.
“It’s like anything, you go to a movie and everyone talks about it and says it’s going be fantastic. Then you sit there for two hours and don’t enjoy it at all. And that sometimes happens at rugby games.
“Unfortunately, it just doesn’t click. It’s not a perfect science. If it was a perfect science, we would play brilliant rugby every week, but we don’t.”
Meanwhile, England prop Mako Vunipola has warned that his team must improve rapidly or get ripped apart by a ruthless Australian team on Saturday.
Jones cut a frustrated figure and the Australian described the game as a “grindathon” with Argentina’s errant kicking the deciding factor.
Vunipola, who has 43 caps, echoed their coach’s words and the 26-year-old is wary of an in-form Wallabies side who are unbeaten in seven games.
“We have to look at the game, see where we can improve and take the learning otherwise... given the team Australia are at the moment and the form they’re in, they’ll take you apart,” Vunipola told British media.
“We’re going into it with a new slate, new opportunities to perform better than we did and we know Australia will be a tough opponent and one we’re looking forward to.
“We know we’ve got areas to work on. But the important thing was coming out, getting the win. We know we were rusty in certain elements.”
Vunipola identified a lack of discipline as a major problem for England who are ranked second in the world behind New Zealand and have won 20 of their 21 Tests under Jones.
“You’ve got to take the learning from it, you can’t brush things under the carpet. There were some good bits as well. I think we defended pretty well,” he said.
“Unfortunately our discipline wasn’t too great in allowing them out too easily. And as a team that’s something we’ve got to address. But all in all, it was a good first hit out, with much work to do.”
England also host Samoa on November 25.