Jones admits there is plenty to work on for England
Eddie Jones has admitted there is a lot to work on ahead of England’s upcoming tour of Argentina after a frustrating victory over the Barbarians at Twickenham.
England ran home three tries, with debutants Nathan Earle and Nick Isiekwe both scoring on the way to a 28-14 scoreline – but the performance was anything but convincing.
However, Jones insisted that the lack of cohesion was natural considering the limited experience and playing time his side had had together, given eight uncapped players started the game in a team with an average age of 23.
“We had some problems with the lineout,” said Jones, who will name his final squad for the summer tour on Monday.
“We turned over maybe four or five lineouts so we need to fix that. We didn’t have any fluidity in attack because it was hard as the ball was so slow but again that will come with combinations so we have a nice two-week prep now leading up to the first test.
“Defensively we just need a little bit more line speed and staying alive for the ball. So those would be the main things [we need to work on] at the moment.
“Nathan Earles showed he could become a Test winger but he has some work to do. I think he’s got potential but there’s a lot to add to his game yet. But it was nice to see.”
Chris Robshaw led the team out for the first time since the 2015 World Cup defeat to Australia which saw England crash out of their own tournament, as he was named co-captain alongside George Ford.
Jones had not always been so kind about the flanker, and was very unflattering of Robshaw in a newspaper column prior to taking the England job.
But working up close with him has changed Jones’ mind and he called the victory over the Baa Baas a “cleansing act” for the 30-year-old.
“The great thing for us was that they did that [take responsibility] before they even got announced as cocaptains and did that naturally so that’s the sort of leadership we’re starting to develop in the team so it’s really positive.
“I thought it was good for Robbo, like a bit of a cleansing act, and he’s just a great player who gives 100 per cent all of the time.
“I thought George came to us off some indifferent club form but showed some nice touches today.”