Jones warned
‘Australia could take us apart’
Mako Vunipola says England risk being torn apart by Australia at Twickenham on Saturday unless Eddie Jones’s side significantly improve their performance level following the underwhelming victory over Argentina.
Jones admitted that his side and their supporters had been left disappointed by what he described as a “grindathon” in the 21-8 victory over Los Pumas, which lacked both “understanding and fluency”.
Vunipola, who received the manof-the-match award on Saturday, admitted that a similar type of display is likely to be punished by the Wallabies, who arrived in the UK on the back of a thrilling 23-18 victory over New Zealand last month.
“We have to look at the game, see where we can improve and take the learning, otherwise, if we don’t have that cohesiveness … Australia, and the form they’re in at the moment, they’ll take you apart,” said Vunipola.
“We’re going into it with a new slate, new opportunities to perform better than we did today and we know Australia will be a tough opponent and one we’re looking forward to.
“We know we’ve got areas to work on. But the important thing was getting the win. We know we were rusty in certain elements. It’s going to be another step up next week. That’s going to be a tough game. But we’re not in a bad place.
“You’ve got to take the learning from it. You can’t brush things unsemesa
der the carpet. There were some good bits as well. I think we defended pretty well.
“Unfortunately our discipline wasn’t too great in allowing them out too easily. And, as a team, that’s something we’ve got to address. But, all in all, a good first hit out, with much work to do.”
Jones took exception to being questioned about how he would have felt if he had paid £100 to watch his side’s victory against Argentina – and whether it represented value for money for supporters at Twickenham.
“We gave 100 per cent effort. I don’t understand the question,” said Jones. “I am not a columnist, I am not a businessman. All I do is coach a rugby team. I try to get them to play as hard as we can.
“We played hard. We might not have played well, but we played hard. So I am disappointed in the question.”
Jones countered that the match, which was decided by a try by Semesa Rokoduguni in the 66th minute, had been valuable through the prism of preparation for the World Cup in Japan in 2019.
“I thought most of the guys did pretty well, we just didn’t play well as a team,” he said.
“I am disappointed if you thought
we didn’t try hard, really disappointed – because we tried hard. You’ve just got to look at the players when they came off. They gave everything. Sometimes it just doesn’t click.”
Joe Marler, the Harlequins prop who missed the game because of a three-week suspension for striking Wasps’ Will Rowlands with an arm during a Champions Cup match last month, rejoined the England camp last night and is likely to be fasttracked into the 23-man squad to face Australia.
Jonny May is also likely to return to the starting line-up after missing Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury, as part of a new-look back three. Mike Brown, the England full-back, is undergoing a returnto-play concussion protocol after being removed from the action during the first half of Saturday’s game.
Ben Te’o was also named in a 35-man squad last night. The Worcester centre will remain in the camp until Wednesday to continue his rehab on an ankle injury he picked up last month.
Jones’s major selection decision will be whether or not to bring Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje back into the side after the two Lions were rested against Argentina, with Farrell handed the job of a watercarrier on Saturday. Short-term logic suggests both should start, but Jones said his concern now was planning for the World Cup.
“I’ve said this a number of times,” Jones said. “We are trying to win the World Cup in 2019 so everything we do now is about trying to win the World Cup, so the way we manage the players is with that in mind – for them to be at their best by Nov 2, 2019.
“So we’re looking at those players. Some players need to get more work at other things. At this stage, that’s the case with those two and we’ll continue doing that until we think they need to play.”