England missing impact of a crowd

EDDIE Jones insists England are suffering from the drop in aggression that is evident across rugby and football due to the absence of spectators at grounds.

Owen Farrell’s side opened their Guinness Six Nations title defence with a dismal defeat to Scotland before returning to Twickenham a week later to comfortably dispatch Italy without hitting top gear.

Jones has promised England will improve again for their round-three appointment with Wales, but in the meantime he has been examining a study into Austrian Bundesliga team Red Bull Salzburg showing the impact of playing behind closed doors.

The research demonstrates that a fifth fewer “emotional situations” take place when stadiums are empty of fans, meaning a reduction in on-field arguments and flashpoints. Jones insists the trend is especially impactful on rugby.

“Most teams are a bit up and down at the moment. The arousal level is the thing we are looking at most,” said Jones.

“Games are tending to be less aggressive generally in rugby and it has been the same in football.

“There is research that shows the arousal level has dropped and that the type of play and the type of behaviour has been less aggressive. In our sport that is a particularly important area.

“We have tried to investigate that. We don’t have any solutions at the moment but that is the thing we are looking at most.

“If you look at our first performance against Scotland, we lacked our normal aggression, we lacked our normal go-at-them type of game. We were a little bit better against Italy, but still not where we need to be.

“If I look at Liverpool, who are an aggressive team, they are really at their best when they are pressing hard and they attack hard and their whole crowd is aggressive.

“It is never as straightforward as one thing, but I think that is definitely an issue at the moment. We saw a bit of it in the autumn and are starting to see more now.”

Among the players to suffer amid England’s sluggish start to the Championship is Farrell, the Saracens playmaker who is struggling to stamp his authority on games amid an ongoing decline in form.

Farrell’s place is not under threat, but Jones accepts his captain is off-key with the reasons for his slump hard to unravel.

“There have been very few players in our team who have been at their best. I think Owen isn’t one of those,” Jones said.

“He knows that and he’s working very hard to get his game back to the standard that he wants and we want. There’s no doubt he’ll get back there.