Jones praises tier-two nation standards
EDDIE Jones has signalled a ceasefire in his feud with World Rugby after praising its success in raising the standards of tier-two nations competing at the World Cup.
England have launched their group campaign with comfortable bonus-point wins over Tonga and the United States, the two lesser teams in a pool that also contains Argentina and France.
But while both victories were secured with minimal fuss, they were notable for the stubborn resistance offered by the underdogs, continuing a theme evident so far at Japan 2019.
For the first time in nine instalments of the World Cup, no team scored 50 points in a match in the opening week, ending the blight of landslide wins against smaller nations that have scarred previous tournaments. Jones has been critical of World Rugby during the summer, describing it as ‘Big Brother’ on one occasion, but he has been impressed by the work put into closing the gap.
“You’re seeing the tier-two countries much better physically prepared,” England’s head coach said. “We’ve played against Tonga and America now and both of them had big, physical packs.
“They’re fitter than they ever have been and that’s a great thing for the World Cup, because we’ve got these tier-two countries fighting hard and it’s producing some great rugby.
“It’s a credit to World Rugby. They don’t get too many credits, but they should get credit for driving tier-two development. It’s great for the game.”
England’s players have been given the weekend off to spend time with family before heading to Tokyo tomorrow to begin preparations for the clash with Argentina.
“We’ll review the game against the USA and look at the 23 we need to play against Argentina,” Jones said.
“We’ll consider the conditions because Tokyo will be 27 degrees and 80 per cent humidity.”
England expect to enter the critical phase of their World Cup group campaign with an entirely fit squad after Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell played a full part in training yesterday.
But they could lose a player for disciplinary reasons after Piers Francis was cited for a shoulder-led challenge to the head of Will Hooley in the 45-7 victory over the United States at Kobe Misaki Stadium.
If the citing is upheld, Francis is facing a ban in the region of six weeks minus any reduction for mitigating circumstances, potentially ending his involvement in Japan 2019.