Jones: England are still on the right path
DEFEAT TO IRELAND MEANS THE EQUAL WORST FINISH IN SIX NATIONS HISTORY
EDDIE Jones insisted his England players are still responding to his methods despite a 32-18 mauling by Ireland that equalled their worst overall Guinness Six Nations performance, write Duncan Bech and Ed Elliot, of PA.
Tries by Keith Earls and Jack Conan, accompanied by 22 points from Johnny Sexton, inflicted a third defeat of the competition and, to compound the fallen champions’ misery, they were bullied into submission at the Aviva Stadium.
England will finish fifth for only the second time since 2000 to intensify scrutiny of Jones, but the head coach is convinced the team remain on the right path.
When asked if he is still getting through to his players, Jones said: “Ah yeah, most definitely, I don’t think that’s the issue.
“If I thought that was the issue I wouldn’t be coaching the team.
“As disappointed as I am about the result, we still know where we are going and we’ll continue in a positive fashion.
“There were a lot of positive things in the game. It was a difficult game for us but we still know where we are going.”
Apart from a stirring 23-20 victory over France, it has been a dismal two months for England, who have entered full reverse since the 2019 World Cup when they lost to South Africa in the final.
“We need to assess where we are going. As I’ve said all along, we are going through a transition period in the team,” Jones said.
“This is almost a natural time for that to happen with two years before the World Cup. Those things will happen.
“We’ve had a fairly settled team for the last four years and that’s natural. But post the Lions, maybe there will be changes to personnel.”
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell believes the first major scalp of his tenure is a fitting reward for his players following the criticism they faced earlier in the tournament and provides impetus for the future.
The dominant display earned the Irish a third successive win, after defeats to Wales and France condemned them to their worst start to a Six Nations campaign.
“To win any last game in a tournament is always pleasing because it’s a long time between drinks until the next one, so to finish off with a W is pleasing,” he said.
“But I am just delighted for the lads because they’ve come in for a bit of stick. Obviously, we’ve lost a couple of games and we never like to lose.
“The lads have always believed in how they are progressing and they’ve always thought that there is a performance like that in them.
“The performance wasn’t perfect; there is still a lot to work on, but I am so pleased for them that they got over the line with a nice victory against a very good side.
“It just solidifies for us that we are on the right track.”
Ireland captain Sexton became the tournament’s leading points scorer on 65 following a nerveless kicking display.
The fly-half credited the impending retirement of Munster back-row CJ Stander and being “sick” of defending performances and results to the media as inspiration for the statement victory.
We need to assess where we are going. We are going through a transition period in the team
Eddie Jones
“It was a mixture of things. The fact that we wanted to do ourselves justice for the work we felt we put in, that was a huge motivator,” said Sexton.
“Obviously, CJ’s last game was a big one.
“The big driver for me was getting the win that we felt we deserved, the performance we felt we deserved.
“I was sick of coming in here and talking to you guys (the media) every week defending ourselves, saying ‘we’re not that far away.’
“I don’t think you believed me and we got a performance we felt we deserved today.” Speaking about Stander, who will hang up his boots this summer and was in tears at full-time, Farrell said: “I have just said to him in the changing room that he can be as emotional as he wants to because he’s given his heart and soul to the jersey, to the green one and to the red one (Munster).”