JONES KEEN TO GET IT RIGHT AGAINST WALES
ENGLAND COACH TAKES THE BLAME FOR BELOW-PAR SHOW IN NARROW OPENING WIN
Eddie Jones insists England’s victory over France feels like a defeat for which his RBS 6 Nations champions must atone against Wales in Cardiff.
Jones spent a sleepless Saturday night reflecting on the 19-16 win at Twickenham that was the worst performance of his 14-Test reign, admitting he had been at fault due to his failure to prepare the team properly.
The Grand Slam remains intact and a new national record of 15 successive victories has been established, but two days later Jones was still looking inwards for explanations as to why England were unable to deliver on his promise to set the tournament ablaze with courageous rugby.
“I feel like we lost. We wanted to go out there and set the benchmark for the Six Nations and we didn’t and we’re disappointed by that,” Jones said.
“We want to go out this week and redeem ourselves. And that’s a good feeling.
“I didn’t sleep on Saturday night, I know that, so the dog was unhappy and the wife was unhappy.
“I’m just disappointed by the way I coached the team and I didn’t sleep because I was thinking about what we could have done better.
“I’ve found that after those sorts of nights you’re at your most lucid, your thinking is pretty clear, as funny as it seems. You wake up in the morning and you’ve got the solutions there.
“When I look back, we made some mistakes. The main mistake we made was that we added some things to our preparation which is important, but sometimes when you add things it takes away focus.
“Those things we have added are going to be beneficial for us further down the track.
“We’re experiencing some short-term pain because we’re probably not doing enough of the important things – we’re doing things which are setting things in stone for the future.
“But this week we will be a bit more focused – we will pare things down.”
Jones has highlighted a poor record upon previous trips across the Severn Bridge, viewing the statistic of 21 wins from 61 visits dating back to 1882 as an anomaly. England traditionally face a hostile atmosphere at the Principality Stadium – on their last visit they were embroiled in a pre-match tunnel stand-off with officials – and Jones hopes Saturday is no different.
“I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t like that,” he said.