Twenty page Lions dossier can help close the gap on All Blacks
EDDIE Jones says that his request for England’s 15man Lions contingent to write their own reviews of the 2017 tour has given his squad the basis of an important dossier on world champions, New Zealand, ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
“We got the players to write reviews of the Lions, from a learning point of view. What they learned about how to prepare for big Test matches, what they learned about the Kiwis. Some of it was outstanding. That has been really important – and, again, we listened to the players.”
Jones added: “It was all about coaching, physical preparation, tactical preparation. The psyche of New Zealand, what they found out, what players they felt could be flustered, how they would get at them. There’s a lot of really good detailed stuff – the players thought about it, and it becomes a dossier that is important for us going forward.”
Jones said that the document which is currently 20 pages long contains important information on the All Blacks which all of the England squad will benefit from, and would increase their chances of winning when the teams play each other next.
“The Lions has increased our chance of beating the All Blacks massively. It’s (the Lions) one of the greatest sporting events, one of the greatest rugby events. Our players have been lucky enough to be part of a successful tour and they’ve learned a lot, grown a lot.
“You get some physical downside from it, which we’re seeing at the moment. We’re getting some mental downside from it. So, we want to make sure that what they’ve learned at the Lions they retain and pass on to the other players.”
The England coach said intelligence from his players
on the All Blacks is essential in closing the gap that he says still exists between the teams ranked first and second in the World Rugby rankings.
Asked how it would go if England played New Zealand on Saturday, Jones responded: “There’s a 20 per cent gap between us and the All Blacks. I don’t think we’ve narrowed that, but
that’s okay. We’ve got two years to do it. There’s still a gap between New Zealand and the rest of the teams, but on any given day, anyone can win.”
Jones said that Steve Borthwick, England’s forwards coach, had also benefitted significantly from his stint with the Lions over the drawn summer series.
“It was excellent again. He learned a lot. Yesterday our coaching staff went to Ealing, and did a session with them to practise coaching because we haven’t coached together since the end of Six Nations. So, we did a practice session, and you can just see in Steve the growth in him, because he’s had that experience with the Lions.”