Thursday, March 18, 2021

Six Nations 2021: Eddie Jones says playing style 'poison' must be removed from players' minds

 




Guinness Six Nations 2021 - Ireland v England
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday 20 March Kick-off: 16:45 GMT
Coverage: Listen to commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Ulster; live text commentary and post-match video highlights on the BBC Sport website and app.

England head coach Eddie Jones says "poison" about playing style must be removed from players' minds before Saturday's game against Ireland.

The 2020 Six Nations champions found their best form in this year's tournament so far to claim a thrilling victory against France last weekend.

But they cannot retain the title after defeats by Scotland and Wales.

"There's a story around the game," Jones told BBC Sport. "You guys fill players' heads full of poison."

Jones was referring to the praise his England team earned for the way they played against France, in contrast to earlier performances in the tournament.

He added: "We're trying to take the poison out of it."

Jones believes the match in Dublin could be more attritional than the free-flowing win against France.

"We know what the game is going to be like, we've got an idea," he continued.

"But sometimes when all the narrative is about 'fantastic, free-flowing, this is how we want to play all the time' - that seeps into players' heads."

'Sometimes you've got to win ugly'

Following England's win against Italy in their second match, former captain Matt Dawson said the side lacked "an attacking instinct".

But Jones' men appeared to turn things around against France, with Dawson calling the win a "lightbulb moment" for the team.

"The expectation is that the next game is going to be like that - that it's going to be free-flowing," Jones continued.

"But generally speaking, when you've played like that in a game, the opposition will try to take that away from you in the next game, so it becomes a tough, grinding affair.

"I'm not criticising what the media does and the fans have got to have their own opinion. Of course they're entitled to their opinion but the reality of the game is different to that.

"Sometimes you've got to win ugly. Do you think the players put their body on the line because they want to play terrible rugby?

"We all want to play good rugby but sometimes it doesn't happen like that."

A Six Nations table showing: Wales P 4 W 4 D 0 L 0 PD 63 B 3 Pts 19; Ireland P 4 W 2 D 0 L 2 PD 34 B 3 Pts 11; France P 3 W 2 D 0 L 1 PD 39 B 2 Pts 10; England P 4 W 2 D 0 L 2 PD 5 B 2 Pts 10; Scotland P 3 W 1 D 0 L 2 PD 1 B 2 Pts 6; Italy P 4 W 0 D 0 L 4 PD -142 B 0 Pts 0
France and Scotland's round three fixture was postponed, leaving them with an extra game still to play

Daly for Slade 'like for like'

Centre Henry Slade - a key component in England's attack - will miss the Dublin game through injury and is replaced in the starting XV by Elliot Daly.

Daly usually plays at full-back for Jones but was demoted to the bench against France, replaced by Max Malins who will remain at 15 for the Ireland game.

Jones said the choice to move Daly to the centre was in anticipation of a "strong aerial battle".

"It's a like for like selection," he explained. "We feel like having a left-footer at 13, which Slade gave us, will be handy. Elliot is a high work-rate player which is important in a kicking game."

Ben Chilwell

 Ben Chilwell

Footballer

Description

Description

Benjamin James Chilwell is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team. Wikipedia
BornDecember 21, 1996 (age 24 years), Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Height1.78 m
NationalityBritish
Weight77 kg
Dates joined2020 





CHILWELL: THIS IS BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN US

BEN CHILWELL ON THE ATTACK AT LEEDS

The next chance to do that comes on Wednesday night at the Bridge when the Blues will look to build on our lead from the away leg against Atletico Madrid.

‘One-nil away was a good result but we are only halfway done,’ says Chilwell, ‘and if we can get that win then that will be massive for that final push going into the last stretch of the season.

The run of results, which has included eight wins and four draws, has restored the Blues into a top-four position in the Premier League, it has us with a first-leg lead in our Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid, and it has earned a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Chilwell, who helped keep a clean sheet in our most recent game – the 0-0 draw at Leeds on Saturday – has been personally affected by the stiff competition for a starting shirt, with Marcos Alonso’s increased involvement meaning reduced minutes on the pitch for the England left-back compared with earlier in the season, but he can see the strong squad benefitting the club as a whole.


‘The manager has come in and every weekend going into the game no one knows who is going to be starting and in what position, and that is a positive thing because we have a massive squad of very talented players who are all fighting for 11 spots.

‘That just brings the best out in all of us because in training everyone is fighting for one of those starting shirts. That is why coming into the weekend we are sharp and defensively we are doing well, and that is why we are unbeaten

 

‘We have been training hard. Tactically the manager is spot on. Defensively we do look solid and I can’t put my finger on what it is apart from we are training hard and everyone is fighting for 11 spots and everyone is getting a game. It is important that we are getting clean sheets but on the flip side we want to be scoring more goals and winning more games.’

Chilwell      admitted straight after the game at Leed  that he should have scored with at least one of the chances that came his way.


‘I’ve had a few chances that I probably should have scored and I think that is the same for a lot of people in attacking positions,’ he adds.

‘Once we get up there we need to be a bit more clinical. ‘We need to get more bodies in the box and try to be a bit more clinical with the final pass and the final shot.’

BEN CHILWELL ON THE ATTACK AT LEEDS

The next chance to do that comes on Wednesday night at the Bridge when the Blues will look to build on our lead from the away leg against Atletico Madrid.

‘One-nil away was a good result but we are only halfway done,’ says Chilwell, ‘and if we can get that win then that will be massive for that final push going into the last stretch of the season.’

 

 source: cheseafc.com