England’s focus delights Jones after win over Argentina
Written by News on 06/10/2019
England coach Eddie Jones said he was pleased his players retained their focus following Argentina’s early red card on their way to a 39-10 win in the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.
The Pumas were forced to play for over an hour with 14 men in the Pool C clash after lock Tomas Lavanini was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Owen Farrell and England initially struggled to make the extra man count.
However, in the second half, England ran away comfortable winners to qualify for the quarter-finals and Jones praised his players’ ability to adapt.
“I liked our psychological adaption to the game today, that we didn’t get seduced by the game,” said Jones.
“When they went down to 14 men, possibly they got a psychological lift and, with human nature, you can drop off a little bit because you think you are going to win the game and we probably did that.
“I am really pleased with how the players got back in the second half and dominated.”
Jones added that his players had tried to play a more expansive brand of rugby when they went a man up but, when that failed to yield sufficient results, England went back to basics.
“When you get 15 against 14 the seduction is to play a lot of phase rugby and we probably did that a little bit in the first half, said the Australian.
“In the second half, we went back to playing good, solid rugby and won the game in a good fashion.”
England, who went out in the pool stages on home soil four years ago, scored 24 points in the second half to see out the match.
Jones pointed to England’s 27-14 win over Argentina in 2017, when full-back Elliot Daly was sent off less than five minutes into the contest, as evidence of how hard it can be to play against 14 men.
“I am happy with how we stuck at the game, we didn’t get too carried away. That is a banana skin game for us, said Jones.
“You have to remember two years ago we beat Argentina with 14 men; Elliot got sent off… and we won the game easily.
“You have to be careful so I was really pleased with the leadership of the team. I thought Owen (Farrell) and his lieutenants did a really good job keeping us focused.”
The comfortable victory was marred by Billy Vunipola’s ankle injury that meant the No 8 was unable to appear for the second half.
Jones confirmed that the joint had been twisted, adding: “We don’t think it’s too serious.”
Owen Farrell also dismissed concern for his wellbeing after he was the victim of another dangerous tackle. The match turned when lock Lavanini became the fifth player to be sent off at Japan 2019 after he caught Farrell on the jaw with his shoulder in the 18th minute.
Nine days earlier Farrell was the victim of a similar challenge by the USA’s John Quill, who was also shown a red card.
Farrell was treated by a medic on the pitch but the alarm has been raised that he was not sent for a head injury assessment (HIA).
“I feel fine. It’s obviously concussion that’s the worry but I didn’t get hit anywhere near the top of the head,” England’s captain said.
“Maybe your jaw gets a bit sore but I was fine and there was no need for a HIA.”
The illegal tackle on Farrell ignited one of several flashpoints in a feisty encounter.
“I probably wouldn’t call them fights! There was a lot of stuff off the ball. It’s not something we want to get caught up in but we tried to look after our players,” added Farrell.
Argentina coach Mario Ledesma admitted Lavanini’s dismissal was justified as he counted the cost of a result that effectively dumps the Pumas out of the World Cup.
“It had a big impact because it was early in the game and I thought it was fair. We lost some power in the forwards and that’s why we had a very difficult game,” said Ledesma.
“Obviously after the red card it became really hard but we made many easy mistakes that we could have avoided. We couldn’t build momentum but the commitment of the boys was incredible and they never stopped fighting.”
(c) Sky Sports 2019: England’s focus delights Jones after win over Argentina
