BENCHMARK Subs save Jones from humiliation
EDDIE JONES had to be saved by England’s super subs after Japan left him choking on his own words.
A 50-minute rugby lesson from his former team at Twickenham made a mockery of the Australian’s pre-match advice to “go to the temple and pray”.
Jones’ warning that Japan would be “physically smashed” by an “absolutely ruthless” England team seemed comical as his players barely laid a hand on the marauding visitors.
England escaped to victory in the second half but only after sending for star duo Owen Farrell and Sam Underhill to sort out the mess.
Captain George Ford said: “There was no life about us. Our attitude wasn’t quite there, which is not good when you’re playing for England.”
Maro Itoje, named man of the match after England recovered to score 25 unanswered points, and then confessed there was a “bit of rage at half-time”.
Japan were given no hope of repeating the ‘Brighton Miracle’ – that upset win over South Africa at the last World Cup.
And when Danny Care scored on England’s first attack the 81,151 crowd sat back expecting the floodgates to open.
But their team sat back too and Japan took full advantage – scoring tries through Ryoto Nakamura and captain Michael Leitch.
“We needed to up the intensity,” said Itoje. “We were losing collisions and that’s not good enough.
“The attitude wasn’t quite right. We were off as a collective and we have to have a think why that was the case. Maybe the early score seduced us.”
Wave after wave of Japanese attacks had Twickenham fearing the same fate as that suffered by the 2015 Springboks.
Itoje added: “I definitely didn’t want to be a part of the first England side to lose to Japan. That was a big motivation but we shouldn’t have even been in that situation in the first place.”
Jones denied giving his red-face side the hairdryer treatment at half-time.
He said: “It is different these days. Once you get past 55 you tone it down.”
Indeed it was the arrival of Farrell which seemed to do most to calm the crisis. Immediately he took control, barking out orders and upping intensity.
“He did a great job,” said Jones. “He is very influential and his influence will only grow. We need to build more leadership around him.”
Ford reduced the deficit with a penalty and then gave the scoring pass to Mark Wilson to dot down the first of three England tries in 15 minutes.
Joe Cokanasiga claimed the second of them on his debut with Dylan Hartley driven over from a lineout for the third.
So England survive and will finish the autumn with three wins out of four if they put away Australia on Saturday.
That would represent an acceptable return but Jones admits he still cannot be sure the future is rosy following the resignation of his boss, RFU chief executive Steve Brown.
He added: “Steve was very supportive of the team and will be sorely missed. “Will it affect me? I am not sure. “Will it impact on the team? My job is to make sure that it doesn’t.”