NATIONS2016 Rage
THERE has been a spiky belligerence around the England camp all week ahead of the defi ning game of the Six Nations and yesterday the undercurrent rose to the surface.
Head coach Eddie Jones made it clear in no uncertain terms after adding Manu Tuilagi to his bench that England are gunning for Wales in the World Cup rematch on Saturday.
For half the team, the subliminal spur will be the game which must not be mentioned from last September, but for Jones it is merely a question of how he wants his bristling England side to be from now on.
They have been surly and uncommunicative off the pitch in the build- up and he wants that snarl on the pitch tomorrow, too.
“One hundred per cent. You go back to the great Ashes cricket series. When have England won Test matches? When they’ve had two fast bowlers – or are least one – that wants to rip every Aussie batsman’s head off. To me that is English sport,” said Jones. “I’m not an Englishman but I reckon I understand what makes English sport tick and we need to be aggressive.”
Squaring such a blatant confrontational approach with reducing the penalty count that cost England when the sides last met will be the trick at Twickenham, but full- on and full- frontal is a basic prerequisite for Jones.
It will be needed against a side built on physical confrontation. England, who