England coach Eddie Jones during a press conference after naming their team to play the All Blacks. Photo / Mark Mitchell
England coach Eddie Jones during a press conference after naming their team to play the All Blacks. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Eddie Jones doesn't do dull.
Wearing his mischievous grin at his final press call before England's semifinal against the All Blacks, Jones largely projected his underlining confidence, though there were brief moments when the mask slipped slightly.
Jones began by saying a media contingent of this size usually occurs onlyafter an off-field incident.
"We haven't done anything bad yet," Jones said after making one change to his starting team by recalling George Ford to first five-eighth and pairing England captain Owen Farrell with Manu Tuilagi in the midfield.
There were jibes about his mind games – the spying accusations he threw out at the start of this week.
"It's always good to have a bit of fun, mate.
"I don't think I ever made any sort of accusation that New Zealand were spying but we definitely saw someone having a look. It might have been just a Japanese fan. It might have been someone keen on Owen, trying to take some photos. We definitely saw someone."
This exact talk, the New Zealand reporter replied.
"Then we're having mind games."
England coach Eddie Jones during a press conference after naming their team to play the All Blacks. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Told former test prop Steve Thompson opined that England could not win the World Cup with the recalled Ford at No 10, Jones shot back: "Everyone is entitled to an opinion aren't they? At least you got your radio station in the press conference. Everyone tonight is going to be listening to Talk Sport 2."
Woven within this posturing and humour, Jones did let his guard down by admitting, belatedly, England will carry the same pressure to Yokohama Stadium as the All Blacks.
"From a coaching point of view you know the stress the players are under. There is pressure, obviously, for everyone involved. Your job as a coach is to minimise the stress and allow them to be free, allow them to have a clear head, play with energy and use their natural ability during the game."
Jones was, however, less convincing when pressed on whether the All Blacks surprised him by starting Scott Barrett at blindside, and whether he was concerned they will attempt to target England's lineout in the same way they did last November at Twickenham.
"Look, we don't control their selections so it's not really an issue for us. Whatever they put out on the field we know they're going to have a good team, we know they'll have certain tactics where they'll try and target us and we've got to try and cope with it.
"New Zealand have always showed a propensity to change the way they play. It will be up to our team to understand that pretty quickly at the start of the game. They always have some sort of surprise first phase type attack," Jones said, referring to Tony Woodcock's 2011 World Cup final try from the lineout.
Jones again claimed many of his side would benefit from their Lions experiences two years ago. Just as he did earlier in the week, he suggested he circled this match on his calendar from the moment the World Cup draw was revealed.
"We've had two-and-a-half years to prepare for this game so we're ready to go. It's going to be a great contest. Two heavyweights, one dressed in white, one in black, you couldn't ask for a better scenario.
"There's a certain sort of game you have to have to play against New Zealand and we've tried to incorporate that into our tactical armoury. We were confident enough to think we'd make the semifinals, so we think we're well prepared."
If nothing else, Jones sure delivers entertainment value.
