DJOKOVIC WILL PUT FAMILY FIRST
Brutal payback as Jones sees threats backfire
EDDIE JONES had his words stuffed down his throat as his claim that England would be too brutal, too violent and too great for France turned to dust in Paris.
Jones had sent his World Cup finalists out with their heads full of what they would soon become – the ‘Liverpool of rugby’ being his most recent claim.
Well, Jurgen Klopp’s peerless men in red have never had a 57-minute period like that which left Owen Farrell’s team down and almost out at 24-0 down.
As for the ‘absolute brutality’ Jones told France’s young team to expect, probably the less said about that the better.
England may indeed one day be remembered as the ‘greatest team ever to play rugby,’ but on this evidence it isn’t going to happen any time soon.
On a wet, grim afternoon at Stade de France, they failed to walk the walk so much that somebody really should tell them to stop talking the talk.
Within six minutes France had cut open a defence which could have been marshalled by Shaun Edwards had the Rugby Football Union taken any of the many opportunities it has had to sign him over the years.
By the end of the first quarter the margin was 17-0 – Edwards’ French defence holding up just nicely, thank you very much.
“It’s like we forgot how to play rugby in the first half,” said Jones.
“We were slow out of the blocks, we were sorry for ourselves and out of kilter. We let the situation get to us.”
Not since 1988 had England been held scoreless in the first half of a championship match.
Up on the TV gantry former captain Martin Johnson said: “They have done from ALEX SPINK in Paris
every single thing you don’t want to do in Paris”.
It was their fourth biggest first-half deficit in 479 championship games, their largest since 2004.
Still there was hope, given the way France blew a 16-0 lead at home to Wales in their Six Nations opener a year ago. Yet this seemed different.
Since Fabien Galthie’s arrival as head coach and his inspired recruitment of Edwards from Wales, a new mood of hope has been created this side of the Channel, reflected in a red-hot atmosphere inside the stadium.
“France usually have a very casual defence,” said Joe Marler.
“Here they had hard lines coming at us, pressurising us, taking away our time and space. It was very Shaun Edwards-esque. And we didn’t adapt quickly enough.”
Jonny May, at fault for France’s second try when not playing to the whistle, scored two dazzling late solo tries to allow England to escape with a losing bonus point. But that papered over the cracks.
While France’s young guns – dismissed as too callow by Jones – fronted up superbly, England’s more experienced stars faded.
Maro Itoje spilled a try chance while team captain Farrell was a pale imitation of his usual self.
With Jamie George also below par, it begged the question how much the salary cap scandal has affected the Saracens’ contingent.
On this showing, quite a bit.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC staged a remarkable fightback to win his eighth Australian Open title.
He then revealed he plans to cut down on tournaments to spend more time with his young family.
But the new world No.1 pledged that he will continue to target overhauling Roger Federer’s male record of 20 Grand Slam titles
– he now has 17.
The Serb suffered a mid-match meltdown to lose six straight games after clashing with the crowd and umpire Damien Dumusois – and also called a medical timeout to treat dizzy spells. But Djokovic, 32 regrouped to maintain his stunning record of never losing a Melbourne final as he saw off Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4. He then said he wanted to scale back from 2022 to spend more time with his children Stefan, five, and Tara, two.
“I am not just a tennis player, I am a father and a husband,” said Djokovic.
“It is my goal and it is my ambition to try and win as many of the Grand Slam titles as I can.
“I would definitely want to play for many more years focusing mostly on the Grand Slams, but in order to have a go for the historic No.1, I am going to try to do everything possible this season and next season maximum.
“I have to probably play less and select certain tournaments to be in my prime the whole year.” He told the pro-Thiem crowd to “shut the f*** up” while winning the first set and, while serving to stay in the second at 4-5, the defending champion was hit with two time violations by Frenchman Dumusois – the second leading to a loss of his first serve on set point.
Djokovic, who called a medical timeout at the end of the third set, said: “I was on the brink of losing that match. My energy completely collapsed. Every time I’d toss a ball I would feel dizzy.”
But with the help of “magic potions” from his team, he fought back and has now won Grand Slams in three different decades.
Sofia Kenin defeated double Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza, saving three break points in the final set to triumph 4-6 6-2 6-2 in the women’s final.