Jones savours samurai battle with do-or-die mentality
EDDIE JONES will send his England side into battle against Australia amid a call to arms to survive their do-or-die World Cup encounter.
Jones has dropped the in-form George Ford for tomorrow’s quarterfinal at Oita Stadium and moved Owen Farrell to fly-half as part of a beefed-up midfield that includes Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade.
It is a conservative selection for a head coach who has staked the success of his entire England reign on the performance at Japan 2019.
After experiencing three previous World Cups, he knows passage into the semi-finals balances on a knife edge.
“The great thing about the World Cup is that every game is a knockout,” said Jones from the team hotel, situated at the foot of the mountains that overlook Beppu Bay.
“No-one has won a World Cup after losing a game and there’s a reason for that. You know it’s do-ordie time.
“You see those hills at the back of us? That’s where all the samurais lived. Every time the samurais fought, one lived and one died.
“It will be the same on Saturday – someone is going to live and someone is going to die.
“That’s what the game is about and that’s the excitement. You get the best eight teams, all playing for their lives.
“You saw that great interview with Semi Radradra after the Fiji game against Wales? He said he emptied his tank and he had to, for his country.
“That’s what every player in the eight teams is going to do this weekend – for their country. It makes it a little bit different and gives it more meaning. It’s fantastic.”
Jones has opted for greater physical presence in midfield in order to shackle centre Samu Kerevi, the Fijian-born battering ram who is Australia’s most destructive carrier.
As a result Ford must settle for a place on the bench to make way for the midfield trio that served England well during the Six Nations.
Farrell resumes as ringmaster but there is concern over his form as he has fallen short of expectations so far in Japan and Jones reveals it is a topic that has been addressed with his captain.
“Owen’s got quite a big job for us. He’s captain and he’s goal-kicker,” Jones said. “The responsibility of being captain at the World Cup is much larger than normal Test matches because you’re bringing a group of 31 players together for eight or nine weeks.
“You get all the family issues. You go to the dinner table, one brother is happy, one brother is unhappy. Someone doesn’t know if they are happy or not.
“Owen’s the father of the group, so to speak. His ability to delegate, to know what to say to players is a challenging experience for a young guy like him. He’s coping with it really well.
“But I feel like sometimes, maybe earlier in the tournament, he spent too much time in the captaincy area and not enough on his own individual prep. I’ve seen a real change in that this week.
“He’s a warrior. He leads from the front. He competes, he’s tough. And that’s what we’ve tried to produce in this team.”
Jones insists that lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy is earned by resilience more than genius.
“Tournaments are about – and particularly a World Cup is about – a team sticking together,” he said.
“The rugby in a World Cup is pretty simple. You don’t see brilliant rugby in World Cups.
“You see teams that are able to do things over and over again well, deal with the intensity, application, work hard for each other – that wins World Cups.
“I can’t recall a brilliant team winning the World Cup. Tough, hard teams that stick together win it.
“Maybe the only one is New Zealand in 2015. They were miles ahead of everyone. Apart from that...” AUSTRALIA boss Michael Cheika says he trusts teenager Jordan Petaia “infinitely” after selecting him for tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-final against England.
The 19-year-old is Australia’s youngest Test centre since Jason Little 30 years ago.
He also becomes the first player born this century to feature in a Rugby World Cup knockout game.
“We didn’t sit back and earmark this game for him to come and play at 13,” Wallabies head coach Cheika said.
“We just watched the games and made the assessments of each player as they went along, and there were things that we liked.
“And what we’ve seen from Jordan, both on the field in games and also at training, we felt that this would be a game that would suit him.
“The guy has been in around the squad for a while now, even though he’s young. He is more than ready to do this.
“I trust him infinitely, and that’s why he has been chosen.
“I wouldn’t be looking at the age of players at either end of the spectrum. This is going to sound silly, but you just go and play footy you know.
“Yes, it’s going to be fast and aggressive and all that type of stuff, and I know that lad will rise up to that challenge. I’ve seen it in him, so I know he will on Saturday.”
Petaia moves from wing to midfield, with Reece Hodge returning after serving a threematch suspension.
Hodge was banned following his citing for a high tackle on Fiji’s Peceli Yato in the Wallabies’ opening World Cup fixture last month.