EDDIE’S MOMENT OF TRUTH
Now it gets serious as Jones’ team must flatten the Aussies
THERE IS no room for error, no coming back from defeat. Eddie Jones’ four-year plan to win the World Cup with England hits knockout territory this morning as his side take on Australia in the quarter-final.
Jones and his team confronted the doomsday threat of a premature exit when Billy Vunipola delivered a mid-week warning to his team-mates.
England are firm favourites to beat the Wallabies for a seventh time in succession and earn a place in the last
four. However, their Saracens No 8 emphasised the magnitude of the occasion and the dire ramifications if the team fail to live up to their billing as prime title contenders. Vunipola said: ‘I said it as a joke and I think I shocked a few of the boys. Wednesday is our biggest training day and I said, “Lads, this could be our last session”. ‘I had a few stares from the lads and they just all laughed it off, but I was like, “I’m being serious, if we don’t turn up, we’re going home”. It is always nice to remind yourself. ‘We have talked about it and made sure we know what the consequences are. We also know if we can keep playing the way we have been playing, but just that little bit better, we will be in a good place.’ Jones has picked a side capable of unleashing a power game designed to crush the Wallabies. The head coach declared that his players will be ‘warriors’ and they will perform with ‘brutality’. ‘We have some boys in this team who don’t know when they are beaten,’ said scrum-half Ben Youngs. ‘They will fight to the very end. It is about taking the game to them and getting on the front foot. The first 20 minutes will be pretty full-on and we have to make sure we get the start we want.’