ENGLAND WILL RULE THE WORLD
Hartley ‘100 per cent believes’ Jones’ men will be No.1 and win the big one in Japan in 2019
DYLAN HARTLEY set the tone for England’s autumn campaign by declaring he has no doubt they can capture the World Cup.
Two years out from the tournament in Japan, rugby’s No.2-ranked nation boasts 20 wins from 21 Tests since 2015.
Head coach Eddie Jones refuses to get carried away, mindful of the heavy beating Ireland gave his Grand Slam-chasing side in March.
But ahead of today’s Twickenham clash with Argentina Hartley says belief within the team is “100 per cent” that “we can be better, get to No.1 and we can win a World Cup”.
The England captain added: “If you don’t have these kind of goals, these dreams, I don’t think you’ve any chance of achieving them. We want to get better, we want to be No.1, we want to win a World Cup. You’ve got to talk about it.
“Being England we’ve always had a target on us anyway. We’re not the surprise any more. We expect to give people a good hard game and I think people know that.”
Argentina’s dismal fortunes since reaching the semi-finals of a World Cup in which England made history as the first host nation to be knocked out in the pool stages, points to a straightforward home win.
Which is one of the reasons Jones has shaken things up by resting Owen Farrell (below) and Maro Itoje (bottom). At this stage of his team’s development the last thing he wants is certainty. “We’ve had two good years and have a solid squad, solid style of play and solid credits in the bank,” he said. “It’s time to start developing the depth and adaptability of the team. “We need to make the team more uncomfortable, not have everything nice and rosy. Have a bit of chaos in the house.” Jones may well approve of the tactic employed in London’s theatreland by director Robert Icke to bring an edge to his production of Mary Stuart. Icke insists his two lead actors learn both the central roles of Elizabeth and Mary – then spins a coin on the stage each night to decide who plays who.
His desire to inject “jeopardy” into his theatre mirrors Jones’ call for “chaos”.
The England boss openly admires the way the All Blacks “deliberately put themselves under pressure” in games since the Lions tour to “equip themselves better” for the World Cup.
How he goes about replicating that against Argentina, Australia and Samoa will likely provide the highlight of the autumn.
England’s fixture list is not the sexiest, but watching Jones at work should be worth the admission money.