Daily Mail

JONES: WE MUST GO UP A GEAR

- By NIK SIMON

EDDIE JONES has called on England to ‘physically dominate’ Australia at Twickenham, demanding that his team ‘go up a gear’. The home team’s Australian head coach has recalled Owen Farrell for the headline Test of the autumn knowing the Wallabies will be desperate not to lose for the fifth consecutiv­e time against England. ‘Australia were part of the Empire and we always looked up to England,’ said Jones. ‘England was seen as the mother country. It’s like the little brother trying to take on the big brother. ‘When I was Australia coach, it was the game on the tour you wanted to win. I’m sure Australia’s the same now.’ England kicked off the series with an unconvinci­ng victory over Argentina last week and during the game Jones was seen on the big screens erupting in frustratio­n — calling his players ‘f****** stupid’ — but he subsequent­ly defended his 20th victory in 21 Tests. ‘If you read the papers it’s like we’ve gone into reverse after one 80-minute performanc­e so I’m trying to get the team out of reverse,’ said Jones. ‘If I can get them going forward, even in first gear, we’ll be doing well. ‘It’s like that old Vauxhall Viva that used to stall all the time. You’ve got to get out and get someone to help you push it — that’s where we are at the moment. ‘The Vauxhall Viva is back. We’ve got a 93 per cent winning record. By 2018, at some stage, we’ll have all our players back and then you’ll see the team roar.’ Jones hit back at Wallaby coach Michael Cheika’s claims that his side have been ‘bullied’ by England in their last four defeats, with the half backs subjected to late tackles which could be seen on video. Jones said: ‘It’s a funny term to use. Australia versus England games are a good physical contest. We’ve had four great referees in the previous games and we’re going to keep on playing hard but fair. ‘There’s a referee there to look at late tackles, so Michael’s obviously looked at a different video to everybody else.’

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