Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika. Photo / Photosport
Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika. Photo / Photosport
England will seek to gain a psychological edge in the build-up to next weekend's quarter-final - which is expected to be against Australia in Oita - by bringing in rugby league legend Ricky Stuart to work with Eddie Jones' squad.
It is understood that Jones had arranged for Stuart, adual international who played 11 Tests for the Australia rugby league side - the Kangaroos - and also three tour matches for the Wallabies, to fly in from Sydney if England reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Stuart, who is head coach of Canberra Raiders, will exchange ideas with Jones, who has established strong links with several Australian rugby league sides, and the significance of his involvement into the build-up to the game against the Wallabies will not be lost on head coach Michael Cheika.
"It's for me to become better for my (Canberra) players," Stuart told The Australian Daily Telegraph. "It's really their moment. It is something that's been in the planning for a couple of months. I know Eddie, he is a world-class operator.
"I played a game of rugby against Eddie when I was a young kid, and I had a day with him when he was coaching the Brumbies," Stuart added.
Jones has already drawn heavily on Australian expertise during his four-year tenure.
Scott Wisemantel is currently England's attack coach in Japan, having joined the management team during the tour of South Africa last year. He is another cross-code footballer from Down Under, having played for Parramatta Eels (league) and Eastwood (union) and has an extensive coaching background in Australia and Japan.
Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika. Photo / Photosport
Other Jones appointments have included Jason Ryles, a Melbourne Storm assistant coach and former Kangaroo international, Dean Benton, formerly the RFU's head of sport science who was an ex-Aussie Rules player, and Glen Ella, the Wallaby legend who helped with England's attack play in 2016.
Jones has also previously brought in former rugby league superstar Andrew Johns on a consultancy basis, while Neil Craig, the former Aussie Rules coach, is Jones' his right-hand man and Warrick Harrington is England's performance analyst who is responsible for GPS data, nutrition and athlete testing. He formerly worked with Australia Super Rugby side the Brumbies where he performed a similar role.
If next week's mind games between Jones and Cheika are likely to make for an intriguing backdrop to the first time these two sides have met in the quarter-finals since 2007, England are also hoping that their brief sojourn to Miyazaki will provide perfect preparation in their bid to reach the semi-finals.
After a travel-and-rest day for the squad on Friday, Jones will seek to replicate some Test-match-intense sessions on the training pitch, which is located beside the luxurious Sheraton Hotel resort in Miyazaki where England spent nine nights in a pre-tournament camp to prepare for the heat and humidity of the pool stages in Japan.
Jones has relished the return to the coastal resort town, where he plotted South Africa's downfall in the 2015 World Cup. He loves the area so much he considered buying a house here.
"This is going to be the place where they find their feet, get in the rhythm, put the finishing touches on the World Cup preparations and get ready for the excitement of the tournament," said Jones when England arrived.
"This is a very good training place, a great hotel and you have a gym right next door. The stress for the players is minimal; warm weather, good food, good training.
"The devil is in the detail. You have to get these things right. You only get one go at the World Cup. You have to be adaptable. It is all about getting ready and getting as well prepared as you can.
"It is very much a rural area so there are lovely beaches, swimming, golf; we have got two golf courses, a driving range. We are only here for eight days and it is just before the first World Cup game. If boredom is an issue we have got the wrong players."
England will also train for a "light session" on Sunday before they depart for Oita on Monday via a three-hour bus journey when they will resume their normal Test-week preparations.
