‘Our players understand they haven’t done anything yet’: England coach Eddie Jones coy before Rugby World Cup final against South Africa
- The English boss is once again keeping the heat off his players with his cryptic but entertaining press conferences
- The legendary coach is one win away from another historic match at the helm
Only this time, he had the air of the hunted, as opposed to the hunter. “The players understand they haven’t done anything yet,” he said in Tokyo, two days after his side administered a thorough and clinical beating on the vaunted All Blacks 19-7.
Jones was delighted to hear talk from the players that they had “emptied their tank” during the big win at the weekend. “That’s one of the most satisfying things I heard because that’s what we want our players to do, empty the tank,” he said. “That’s how they should feel at the end of the game, absolutely exhausted.”
He also alluded to how his players have gleefully taken to onsens, Japanese hot spring baths, in droves. “It's a great way of recovering,” he said. “You know you think about how smart the Japanese are, 150 years ago each village had its own onsen and it was perfect recovery. Hot, cold, you had some social direction so you were relaxed. It’s perfect so our players are better today than they were last week.”
Last week, Jones claimed that because Japan’s second team are the All Blacks, all the pressure was on them to satisfy their 120 million fans here. But when asked where the country’s allegiance would be for the final, he claimed he wasn't sure. “All I know is that we’re excited about the prospects,” he said. “We know the final comes with pressure but we’re excited about handling that and we feel that’s an advantage we’ve got.”
