Jones demands England step it up a gear against Aussies

EDDIE JONES has called on England to ‘physically dominate’ Australia at Twickenham and ‘go up a gear’. The home team’s Australian head coach has recalled Owen Farrell for their headline Test of the autumn knowing the Wallabies will be desperate not to lose for the fifth consecutive time against England. ‘Australia were part of the Empire and we always looked up to England,’ said Jones (right). ‘England was seen as the mother country. When I was Australia coach, it was the game on the tour you wanted to win. I’m sure Australia’s the same now.’ England kicked off the series with an unconvincing victory over Argentina last week and during the game Jones was seen on the big screens erupting in frustration — calling his players ‘f ****** stupid’ — but he subsequently defended his 20th victory in 21 Tests. ‘If you read the papers it’s like we’ve gone into reverse after one 80-minute performance, so I’m trying to get the team out of reverse,’ said Jones. ‘If I can get them going forward, even in first gear, we’ll be doing well. ‘It’s like that old Vauxhall Viva that used to stall all the time. You’ve got to get out and get someone to help you push it — that’s where we are at the moment. We’ve got a 93 per cent winning record. By 2018, at some stage, we’ll have all our players back and you’ll see the team roar.’ Jones hit back at Wallaby coach Michael Cheika’s claims that his side have been ‘bullied’ by England in their last four defeats, with the half-backs subjected to late tackles which

could be seen on video, saying: ‘It’s a funny term to use. Australia versus England games are a good physical contest. We’ve had four great referees in the previous games and we’re going to keep on playing hard but fair. ‘There’s a referee there to look at late tackles, so Michael’s obviously looked at a different video to everybody else.’ That being said, Michael Hooper still insisted Australia’s half-backs are ready to be targeted by England at Twickenham. ‘It’s something the halves have been working on,’ said the Aussie skipper. ‘It (hitting late) is certainly to try to slow our ball down. Tactically, if your half-back’s not at the next ruck, they have more of an opportunity to get a turnover or get pressure on your ball. ‘You’ve got to be careful with doing it because you can give away a penalty. Every time you play in big games there are going to be things like that coming up.’ Australia will usurp England in second place in the global rankings if they end a four-match losing sequence in the fixture. ‘It’s something we haven’t spoken about but we know there is a potential to do that,’ Hooper said. ‘Our focus is what will work against England and it will be a nice bonus if it does happen.’