JONES KEEN TO SOLVE CARDIFF CONUNDRUM
ENGLAND CHIEF OUT TO BUILD ON NARROW SQUEAK AGAINST FRANCE BY WINNING IN WALES
England will embrace the hostility awaiting in Cardiff once Eddie Jones has examined the psychology behind Wales’ control of a fixture he claims has left previous Red Rose teams “petrified”.
France were edged 19-16 at Twickenham on Saturday, Ben Te’o bagging the late, winning try, to keep the champions’ Grand Slam hopes intact.
But a study of the record books tells Jones that a different challenge lies at the Principality Stadium.
The Australian views England’s failure-to-win rate of 62.3 per cent in 61 visits to the Welsh capital as an anomaly that has its origins in the fearful minds of sides crossing the Severn Bridge and is to seek advice over its source.
A 21-16 triumph in 2015 remains vivid in the memory, but that was the highlight of a spell of just two England wins in their last seven visits to Cardiff, a run that includes a traumatising collapse when the Grand Slam beckoned four years ago.
Adding a personal element to this Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations showdown for Jones is that it will be his first visit to Cardiff since Australia’s 24-22 loss there in 2005, a result that instigated his sacking as head coach of the Wallabies.
“I can’t work out why our record in Wales is so poor. I’m sure they have had good teams down the years, but they are a country of three million people,” Jones said.
“I think psychologically you have got to get it right when you are playing Wales in Wales.
“There seems to be some sort of thing there because no one can tell me why the English are petrified of playing Wales in Wales.
“I will talk to a few blokes who have played there to figure out what the problem is and why the record is so horrendous – because it is horrendous.
“We have got to find a way to overcome it, but it’s not going to be overcome by repeating history.
“So we will work out what has been done in the past and make sure that we don’t do it because you know what the definition of insanity is .....
“It’s an amazing atmosphere, how could you not want to play rugby there? It is one of the greatest rugby countries in the world to play in.
“Obviously it has been difficult for the English to cope with, so we need to find a way whereby they see it as being delightful.”
As visiting head coach Jones will determine whether the stadium roof is closed or kept open, but it is a decision he will leave to fate.
“I don’t care which way it is – we’ll toss a coin and see what happens. They can have fireworks going off. It doesn’t matter, it’s the same for both teams,” Jones said.
The France match was the worst performance of Jones’ 14 matches in charge, described by the 57-year-old as “awful”, and he has accepted responsibility as he looks inwards for explanations.
“I have obviously got it wrong because the team didn’t play well, so I need to look at what we did and didn’t do and what we need to do to get it right,” he said.
“We just stood off – it was quite strange.” Teo’s try added to 11 points from the boot of Owen Farrell, with Elliott Daly adding a penalty.