Rugby
Jones: England disrespectful
2012-12-11 09:03
Sydney - Former Australian rugby coach Eddie Jones has branded England as 'disrespectful' as a result of their actions during their win over the All Blacks at Twickenham last week.
According to
allblacks.com website, Jones told The Daily Star that England coach Stuart Lancaster needed to
sort out his side's cocky behaviour if they were to rule the rugby world
in 2015. And he targeted centre Manu Tuilagi as the main offender.
Jones
cited Tuilagi's attitude when strolling over the goal-line and standing
'statue-like, lapping up the crowd's adulation instead of trying to get
nearer to the posts'.
"That's disrespectful to the world champions – and if they don't control that kind of thing they will not go forward as a team.
"You
don't want to see that sort of thing creep into the game because it's
not good for rugby," Jones, who coached Australia to the 2003 World Cup
final, said.
"It doesn't wind up other teams but the game of rugby is about respect – and that's one thing we simply must keep in the game.
"New Zealand have scored numerous points against numerous teams and you never see any of their players do that," Jones said.
"They run hard and try to get under the posts to make the kick as easy as possible."
Jones said he expected the England management would have been upset at Tuilagi's attitude.
At the same time Jones said England's win proved nothing.
"It's only one game. The pressure was off and they played without fear.
"They
were not expected to beat the world champions. They have won one Test
against a top country. How many times have the beaten New Zealand in the
last nine years?" he asked.
"The secret of a very good team is
consistency and New Zealand have won 88 percent of their Tests. England
have not done that since 2003 when they had a very good team.
"The
big thing now will be the next game and if, when they are expected to
win, they can play like that again. That's the test," he said.
Jones
said to win a World Cup teams needed to have around 600 caps. It was
all about maturing and England needed around another 300 caps of
experience ahead of the World Cup. They had the potential to have a very
good team but they would need to eliminate the sort of arrogance
Tuilagi had unveiled.