British & Irish Lions 2021

Fan abuse part of the job for England coach Jones

2020-02-07 07:05

Bagshot - England coach Eddie Jones has insisted being taunted by supporters comes with the territory as he prepared his side for another Calcutta Cup clash away to old rivals Scotland.

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The Australian found himself on the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse from a few Scotland supporters the day after England's stunning 25-13 loss at Edinburgh's Murrayfield two years ago.

Jones encountered trouble at a Manchester railway station and then on the train to London.

He had broken his journey to watch Manchester United beat Chelsea at Old Trafford as a guest of the Red Devils' former manager Alex Ferguson.

But Jones made it clear on Thursday he would be travelling straight back with his squad this time.

"I have checked the Premier League schedule and I am not going to any games!" he told reporters at England's training base.

"It was a tiny incident. It wasn't of any significance. That happens every day. What do you reckon happens when I walk down the street?

"Some people say nice things, some people are into you. It happens every day. If you didn't want it, you don't do this job," added the often outspoken former Australia and Japan coach.

England head into this weekend's fixture having lost their last two matches: a comprehensive 32-12 defeat by South Africa in the World Cup final in Japan followed by last week's 24-17 loss to France in their opening clash of this year's Six Nations.

Jones, a consultant to the Springboks when they beat England in the 2007 World Cup final, said no side would have coped with the way South Africa played in the Yokohama showpiece on November 2.

"The World Cup final is a one-off final," said Jones, also in charge of the Australia team beaten by England in the 2003 final.

"I'm happy to say that if I went back to that game again, I can't think there's a team in the world that would have beaten South Africa that day. And that happens. No embarrassment," he added.

"France, for some reason we just weren't on the button early. and I think I underprepared the team for the game, so it took us some time to get into the game."

Jones said he had been taking a long view given the demands of the Six Nations.

"We underprepared for the game and I take full responsibility for that. But there's a reason for that and my view is that we'll see the reason at the end of the competition - that we'll be full of running."

England captain Owen Farrell said he expected wounded pride would fuel his side against Scotland after their deserved defeat in Paris

"You do tend to have a bit more of a look at yourself after a loss," he explained. "It allows you to be a bit more open.

"We have said where we want to improve and I would expect us to not just talk about it but do it as well."

Teams:

Scotland

15 Stuart Hogg (captain), 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Rory Sutherland

Substitutes: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Nick Haining, 21 George Horne, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Chris Harris

England

15 George Furbank, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell (captain), 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola

Substitutes: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Ben Youngs, 23 Ollie Devoto

Read more on:    england  |  six nations  |  eddie jones  |  rugby

 

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