Eddie Jones and Billy Vunipola have been getting the plaudits in the English press this morning.
England outmuscled Ireland 21-10 at Twickenham to remain the only contender for a Grand Slam and new coach Eddie Jones is getting the credit for this leaner, meaner blooming of the Red Rose.
The build-up to the Six Nations tussle was dominated by Jones’ provocative statements surrounding Jonathan Sexton’s injury status and Jones backed that up with a confrontation with SportsJOE in the press conference post-match, and England’s players carried their coach’s attitude onto the field in spades.
Ill discipline has long been a problem for England in big games but the men in white walked a thin line on several occasions, with some questionable late hits on the likes of Sexton that went unpunished and a pair of yellow cards that gave Ireland a sniff of an unlikely triumph.
In the Telegraph, Paul Hayward notes the very deliberate change in tone and tactics in the England camp:
Eddie Jones is turning England from choirboys to outlaws. The ditching of all Stuart Lancaster’s ideas moved up another gear when James Haskell and Danny Care were both sent to the sin bin in this 21-10 win over Ireland and Jones threatened to impose a media blackout on himself before the Wales game over the fallout from his remarks about Johnny Sexton and concussion.
Indiscipline was a hallmark of Lancaster’s reign too, but Jones has upped the ante. All the evidence suggests he thinks England were just too nice.
Thus Haskell’s swinging arm to the jaw of Ireland’s Conor Murray was described by Jones as “a 50-50” call. And he was having no truck with the idea that Mike Brown should have been punished for back-heeling Murray in the face on the floor.
His skirmish with us in the press after the game was another departure from Lancaster’s endless patience under questioning.
When Jones played on the Ireland stand-off Sexton’s history of concussion, he overstepped the mark by mentioning the player’s parents and how worried they might be. Hence the furore. So there is no basis for him feeling aggrieved. It may be another tactic – and the boycott may not even materialise. But peace has given way to conflict, which is fine, so long as the team are winning.
In the Observer, Paul Rees credits Jones’ pre-match ‘Aussie Rules’ comments with tempting Ireland to abandon their natural game…
Eddie Jones had mocked Ireland in the build-up for a game plan that was based more on kicking than running.
If the England head coach was intending to provoke the champions into doing what did not come naturally, he succeeded: they ran from their own 22 in the opening minute and kept the ball in hand throughout but their passing in midfield was not as sure and varied as England’s and they lacked a carrier with the force of Vunipola.
With all the focus on the potential targeting of Sexton, there was praise for the out-half after he delivered another combative performance, particularly in the face of the rampaging Vunipola.
In the Observer, Eddie Butler says Sexton seemed to revel in the challenge of taking down the big number eight, while stating that Ireland only seemed to make hay when they avoided the big beast of England’s back-row and got the ball into the hands of debutant Stuart McCloskey.
Even before the points began to flow, it swung deliciously between pain and pleasure. There are concerns about whether the likes of Johnny Sexton can extract much of the latter given the way the game is currently and thunderously played. What fun is there for one so exposed and relatively slight to be had in staring runners coming at him in the eye and going high in the tackle? Won’t you be concussed again, Johnny?
The answer came from the player himself. In the 27th minute, Billy Vunipola, No1 bulldozer in the depot of heavy machines, was heading his way, throttle open and snorting. Sexton stood his ground and did not flinch. They met and Billy spilled the ball. It may not count as fun as defined by the larger mass of the population on a Saturday afternoon but Sexton seemed to enjoy it. That’s why he goes high, he might say.
…
Ireland took play into areas where Billy does not easily go – the wider channels. On its way to Andrew Trimble and Keith Earls, the ball went through the hands of Stuart McCloskey and there were glimpses of a road-clearer on the other side, the centre who matches Billy pound for pound.
It was Ireland’s best period and their unexpected quest for width put them on the front foot. Whether there was a direct correlation between this width and England being reduced to 14 is debatable, but it was certainly indicative of a game coming to life, and the loss of James Haskell for a high shoulder tackle helped the process.
Elsewhere, the UK press saw few positives in the Irish display, save for that bright debut from centre McCloskey. The Mail on Sunday said the Ulster man ‘offered reason for hope in midfield’, but concluded that ‘the visitors lacked potency in England’s 22, blowing multiple scoring opportunities, and demonstrated poor execution’.
The BBC also bemoaned Ireland’s failure to take advantage of rare forays into the England 22, particularly with set-piece miscues:
Joe Schmidt’s side lost three of their four attacking line-outs on the England line and blew an attacking scrum in the same auspicious position; they won 10 turnovers to England’s two yet too often brought pressure back on to themselves with poor decisions and sloppy execution.
And the Beeb stuck a final knife into Irish hearts by hailing new second row Maro Itoje, daring to mention him in the same breath as recently retired Ireland legend Paul O’Connell:
Then there is Maro Itoje, making his full debut a year younger than both Martin Johnson and Paul O’Connell, the two great second row titans of this old fixture to which the team’s defence coach Paul Gustard has compared him.
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