ROOT’S BOYS Young ones come of age to seal a series triumph and point way to Ashes charge
Brute force will teach French kids lesson says Jones
EDDIE JONES has warned France that England intend to teach their kids a lesson in “brutal physicality” when the Six Nations kicks off this weekend.
The World Cup finalists are preparing to take on a French team who have only one player over 30.
The average age of the squad is 23 and 19 have yet to win a cap.
“Test-match rugby requires experience and France have decided not to take experience in, they’ve gone with youth,” said Jones, right.
“They might be wrong, they might be right, we don’t know. But it is going to test those young players because they will never have played against the brutal physicality and intensity that we are going to play with on Sunday.
“You don’t get that in domestic rugby and in Under-20s competitions. That is why you call it Test rugby.
“At stages they are going to be looking at each other wanting to know where the answers are going to come from. But they don’t have the experienced players to call on to say, ‘What do you do?’”
Jones remembers how England outmuscled Ireland away in last year’s tournament opener.
And once again he is intent on providing a clear focus for a team on a mission to rebound from their World Cup final heartbreak. He had this warning for France’s three fly-half contenders, of whom the oldest, Matthieu Jalibert, is just 21 years old.
“We are always looking for a weak link,” he said. “We want to target them and make their life uncomfortable.” ❑ENGLAND and Lions prop Kyle Sinckler has confirmed his move from Harlequins to Bristol on a two-year deal.
ENGLAND clinched a 3-1 series victory to signal the blossoming of Joe Root’s era – the first time they have won three successive Tests in South Africa for 106 years.
Built on the shoulders of youth and the experience of Ben Stokes, Root marshalled his side superbly to secure a 191-run win at the spiritual home of Proteas cricket.
Matching that record, which has stood since 1914, is something that seemed unlikely when they lost the first Test and the squad was ravaged by injury and illness.
Mark Wood was once again the hero with 4-54 to go with his 5-46 in the first innings and, fittingly, he was the man to take the final wicket, with
Anrich Nortje caught down the leg side by Jos Buttler.
This is a win that will do wonders for Root’s captaincy and his consistently stated aim of winning the Ashes in Australia in two years’ time – and he should take his share of the plaudits. But so too should a young side who have belied their years to give South Africa a humbling lesson.
“It has been a real team effort,” said man-of-the-series Stokes. “We came in with some really young guys in this series and the young lads have made really important contributions. I couldn’t be prouder.”
And Stokes knows that the experience enjoyed in these
conditions by rising stars such as Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley with the bat and Sam Curran and Dom Bess with the ball, will stand them in great stead when they will be asked to do a job Down Under. It will certainly not be lost on England that all their Test cricket away from home between now and the Ashes will be in subcontinent conditions, which is why this series was so important. Crawley, Sibley and Bess will now link up with the England Lions to play in Australia before the Sri Lanka tour in March. With Wood