Jones utilises pressure points to harden up England for French battle

Coach uses ‘unfair’ scenarios in training to toughen players Squad given guidance from referees to improve discipline

It was Robert Horry, the NBA basketball legend, who once said that “pressure can burst a pipe or pressure can make a diamond.” It is a quote that sprung to mind yesterday as England head coach Eddie Jones named his starting XV to face France at Twickenham tomorrow.

The pressure has been building on England after two defeats in the opening three rounds of the Guinness Six Nations Championship.

And with Grand Slam-chasing France arriving in London with the kind of swagger we have not seen from Les Bleus for more than a decade, it feels like England have reached the point where this year will be defined by how they react to that pressure.

Jones knows it, too. So many of England’s problems during this Championship have been in their heads, typified by their disciplinary issues that have led to the concession of 41 penalties in three games and to questions about Owen Farrell’s leadership as captain.

To counter the discipline issue, Jones has brought two Rugby Football Union referees, Matthew Carley and Wayne Barnes, into camp to help the players improve their decision-making. But the biggest focus has been on coping with the pressure they now find themselves under and making sure the players do not “burst a pipe” in response to the traditional emotional challenge of “Le Crunch”. In the contact sessions at their Lensbury training base, Jones deliberately set up “unfair” game scenarios to improve the players’ reactions to real-time setbacks and game pressure points.

“We have tried to create training sessions this week to replicate what might be termed as a ‘disappointment’ in the game to make sure that we don’t lose our focus, because when you are not at your best when you get those disappointing moments, other ideas start flooding your head instead of just getting back to what is really important,” said Jones. “So we have tried to create sessions that have elicited that response and tried to expose the players, so they can practise more.

“The game scenarios [have included] a bad call by the referee, unfair conditions in the game … we have concentrated on a number of areas to put the players under pressure. There are going to be moments in the game when they are going to be tested like that. We need to make sure we keep our focus, and we feel like we have practised that really well this week.”

The preparation included a presentation by Barnes about how referees prepare for matches, including briefs on players.

“One of the interesting things is the amount of analysis they do and the trends that they watch for,” said Mark Wilson, who has retained his place in the back row. “That is something we have got to be a bit more conscious of now. It was interesting to learn that. Our biggest thing was trying to eradicate the avoidable penalties. We still want to play with intensity, but sometimes things won’t go your way.”

In order to help shape the diamond, Jones has finally handed a first start to Max Malins, the first sign that the England head coach, is prepared to break up the “Untouchables” of his World Cup side, with both Elliot Daly and Jamie George dropped to the bench.

Daly had won his 50th cap in the defeat in Cardiff and had been almost ever present at full-back since switching from the wing on the tour of South Africa in 2018. Yet his form has deserted him this season and Jones has decided that Malins, who has shone in his performances while on loan from Saracens at Bristol, finally deserves his chance to show that he can be England’s long-term answer at full-back going into the 2023 World Cup.

Those calling for more surgery to the back line will have been disappointed, with Jones instead opting to reserve the remainder of his changes to the pack, where George, another one of England’s trusted lieutenants, on the bench, with Luke Cowan-dickie, who impressed against Italy, given another start. Charlie Ewels also comes into the second row in place of Jonny Hill to help ease the line-out burden on Maro Itoje.

It is on the bench that Jones has hinted at further change with England reverting to five forwards and three backs. Now it is time for England to make that diamond.