England’s head coach called on his players this month to make their own movie rather than sit and watch one. If they take him up on it against a Japan side he advised to pray before their first full Test at Twickenham, Eddie Jones and the Temple of Doom will have its first release
Japan are the first of the other two international teams Jones has been in charge of to visit Twickenham in the final two weeks of the autumn series with Australia providing the final curtain next weekend. “Pray, pray, pray. Go to the temple and pray,” Jones advised his former charges. “We will be ruthless and want to physically smash them.”
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England have not been ruthless since ransacking Rome at the start of this year’s Six Nations. They have moved out of the slow lane after a run of five successive defeats, but with 11 Tests before the start of the World Cup they need to start overtaking. Two victories over South Africa and an agonising defeat to New Zealand were notable for spirit and solidarity rather than the style and substance that Jones will expect in the next two weeks and beyond.
England have been hampered by injuries as well as the loss of form that started during the Six Nations, but even after making 11 changes from the side that came within a disallowed try of beating New Zealand last weekend, there will be no excuses against Japan. While there should be an improvement in the set pieces against a side that over the years has evolved into one that makes up for a lack of size in the front five with improvised ways of attacking, how England use the ball will be telling.
They were structured against South Africa and New Zealand, at their most comfortable executing training ground moves. During his first 18 months in charge, Jones talked regularly about the players making him redundant by making decisions on the hoof rather than seeking guidance from the coaching box, reacting instinctively to the unexpected, but as the World Cup draws nearer, the focus is on planning.
Victory may look beyond a Japan team whose only previous visit to Twickenham was in 1986 when England did not award caps: the visitors led 12-6 at half-time that afternoon before being overpowered in the second period and losing 39-12. Under the guidance of their assistant coach Tony Brown, the former New Zealand outside-half, they have the capacity to embarrass opponents and earlier this month became the first tier-two nation to score five tries against New Zealand.
“It is not the same old boring rugby with a lot of set pieces,” said Brown, the head coach of Japan’s Super Rugby team, Sunwolves. “It is innovative. It is about attacking space at speed, using counterattacks and turnovers and kicking a lot to produce rugby that is exciting to play and watch.”
As World Cup hosts, Japan have been granted unprecedented access to the leading teams since the last tournament. It will be their 12th meeting with a tier-one nation with South Africa, their victims in Brighton in 2015, the only one not to face them. They drew in France a year ago and beat Italy in the summer, scoring 31 tries in the 11 matches and conceding 50.
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They revel in the unstructured and will test England’s new three-quarter combinations. Jack Nowell and Alex Lozowski become the 11th midfield pairing in the Jones era: with Chris Ashton back, Joe Cokanasiga offering a combination of power and pace on his debut and Anthony Watson returning from injury next year, Nowell’s Test future may lie in the centre.
Jones’s trusted midfield combination has been Jonathan Joseph and Owen Farrell, but he used the latter at outside-half against South Africa and New Zealand, indicative of a more structured approach. George Ford makes his first start at 10 since the second Test in South Africa and will lead the side on his 50th Test appearance.
“You want to start, but when Eddie tells you the reason why he is going with his team, you get your head around it and crack on,” said Ford, who struggled to cope with being summarily dropped during the last World Cup. “If you get frustrated, walking around kicking stones and stuff because you are not starting, you will clearly not be ready to come on and try to win the match. Going through the experience before helps me understand it, and deal with it, better.”
Maro Itoje is Ford’s vice-captain as Jones mines for leadership qualities in one of his core players. “Not much will change for me,” he said. “I will go out there, play my game and support George. We will not be switching off because we are playing a team ranked below us. I like it when Eddie speaks as he has this week: it sets a level for us to meet.”