Eddie Jones played a chance to whitewash Wallabis



Eddie Jones is pushing away all talk of earning on another of his England tourists, the record-breaking Clean Sweep Wallaby.

The Tasmanian coach, who whitewashed England’s first 3-0 win on the tour of Australia in 2016, could push his remarkable record to 11 wins and no loss against Wallaby in the July Test.

Under his leadership, England have enjoyed eight consecutive wins, the most by both sides in the 113-year history of the match.

Yet when asked about maintaining his unbeaten record, Jones found none of it on Tuesday. “Oh, it’s for you to speak – not for me,” he sighed.

He is more involved with the trio of consecutive weekend competitions in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney and presents a very different challenge in a game over six years that he believes it has been more stop-start – and of course more intense.

“Australia is in a different position than it was in 2016,” he said.

“They were an established team that reached the World Cup finals where they did very well.

“If you look at the super rugby teams right now, they are very young teams, going through a lot of good young players.

“I will not try to pick Dave Rainey’s team (Wallabis coach) for him, but it looks like they will have a fairly young team.

“They will play that traditional Dave Rainey-type rugby – lots of ball movement, sequence play, so the game’s challenge will be different – and obviously the game is changing a lot.”

Looking at last weekend’s super rugby action, Jones thinks there were so many TMO stops that the games became full of “more powerful, shorter blocks of intense game time”.

“We need to make sure we are well prepared for this type of rugby on a fast pitch,” Jones said.

“The first game in Perth, at an AFL ground, very fast, you’re going to scream 60,000 Australians there – they’ve already sold the game, it’s great for rugby.”

It’s a big tour for Jones, who is now under pressure over two disappointing seasons where England finished fifth and third out of six countries.

Uncapped Louis Linagh, son of former Wallabis legend Michael, and new English game sensation Henry Arundel will be present at his three-day training camp in London with an extended squad of 36 starting Sunday.

“There are some players who have done well in recent times. We want to look at them and see what they can bring to the table, “said Jones, who has now selected Linag in several of his squads without making his international debut.

It is possible, however, that if Linagh skips the tour, the 21-year-old Harlequins winger could make his bow in England’s international match against the Barbarians at Twickenham on 19 June before flying to Australia.

© AAP

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