WE WANT TO BE THE GREATEST
THE DAYS Jones calls on England to play unforgettable rugby
ON THIS DATE IN SPORTING HISTORY
1911: The inaugural Monte Carlo Rally was launched. 1940: Jack Nicklaus, winner of a record 18 golf Majors, was born.
1990: John McEnroe defaulted his fourth-round match against Mikael Pernfors at the Australian Open after receiving code violations for glaring at a line judge, smashing a racket and swearing at an official. 2007: Ricky Hatton won his IBF light-welterweight title fight with Colombian Juan Urango on a unanimous points verdict in Las Vegas. 2009: Hamburg and Holland midfielder Nigel de Jong signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Manchester City.
2013: Cardiff signed striker Fraizer Campbell from Sunderland on a three-anda-half-year deal.
2014: Stan Wawrinka ended Novak Djokovic’s 25-match winning run at the Australian Open, getting the better of the defending champion in the quarter-finals.
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“WE WANT to be remembered as the greatest team that has ever played rugby.”
As an opening gambit for the Six Nations, Eddie Jones’ pronouncement at Twickenham yesterday was quite an eyeopener. Even by his standards.
England’s head coach had just unveiled a squad for the championship refreshed by the addition of eight uncapped players but still based largely around the side who reached the World Cup final in November.
If he was chastened by the harrowing loss to South Africa in Yokohama at the time, Jones has clearly got over it as he resets the dials for England to infinity and beyond.
To say he is aiming high in his second cycle in charge – one that at the moment extends only until 2021 – is a significant understatement. What Jones means by the best of all time – and this, remember, is an England team who did not win the Six Nations in 2019 – goes beyond simply victories. He said: “I don’t think it’s marked by Grand Slams. I think you can win Grand Slams without playing great rugby, as you can win a World Cup without playing great rugby. I mean playing games of rugby people remember.
“We have touched it. We played a great game against the All Blacks [in the World Cup semi-final] but we’ve only done that once. When you’ve been in that area, you want to do it sustainably. Imagine if a team does that 80 per cent of the time.
“This team has played some great rugby over the last four years. Players have got enhanced reputations, some of them are big stars. We want to challenge ourselves to be as good as we can.”
To this end, Jones has moved around the pieces on the fringes of his squad. Dan Cole has been axed and World Cup squad-mates Mark Wilson, Jack Singleton,
Piers Francis, Joe Cokanasiga, Ben Spencer and Ruaridh McConnochie are excluded.
The newcomers include the Northampton trio of full-back George Furbank, second row Alex Moon and centre Fraser Dingwall, who played for Scotland at Under-18 level.
Wasps stand-off Jacob Umaga, the nephew of All Blacks legend Tana Umaga, is also chosen for the first time, along with Bath prop Will Stuart. Gloucester wing Ollie Thorley, Bath hooker Tom Dunn and Saracens back row Ben Earl make up the uncapped ranks.
Earl, 22, is one option to replace the injured Billy Vunipola at No8 in England’s opening game of the championship against France a week on Sunday, with Jones – who is also without Exeter pair Jack Nowell and Henry Slade – having overlooked the in-form Alex Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds.
Jones added: “We’ve decided to go for a different way of playing at No8 without Billy. And that’s a judgment call.”