Jones bites back at team critics
TACTICS: ENGLAND SLAMMED FOR THEIR STYLE OF PLAY
England coach Eddie Jones said critics of their style were being “disrespectful” to his players after they needed extra time to beat a thirdstring France 22-19 in the Autumn Nations Cup final at Twickenham on Sunday.
The tournament was dominated by set-piece forward play, aggressive defence and tactical kicking, leading some pundits to fear for the future of rugby union.
Despite the dire pre-match forecasts, England and France nevertheless produced an engrossing clash, with French fullback Brice Dulin scoring a fine try, as the visitors, boasting just 68 caps in their starting XV, established a 13-6 lead at half-time.
However, there were moments when the teams’ kicking duel resembled a prolonged baseline rally at the French Open tennis championship, with fans in a crowd of 2 000 booing one such exchange after spectators were let into Twickenham for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.
Six Nations champions England squandered a possible try just before the interval when, having decided against moving the ball wide, a series of drives by the pack inches from the French line ended with prop Ellis Genge knocking on.
Their tactics were eventually rewarded barely 30 seconds from the end of normal time when replacement forward Luke Cowan-Dickie
was driven over for a try.
E ngland captain Owen Farrell who, unusually missed four of his nine goal-kicks in the match, tied the scores at 19-19 with the ensuing conversion before landing a match-winning penalty in “sudden death” extra time.
Jones, however, had no qualms and responded angrily when questioned by reporters about the manner of a victory that saw England avenge their only defeat this year, a 24-17 loss to France in Paris in February.
“Consider the players are coming off at least a 10-month season without having any pre-season to prepare for the international game,” added the veteran Australian coach, who led England to last year’s World Cup final. –