'We as players will be honest with Eddie'
England insists a long, demanding season won’t leave them short of petrol for Saturday’s Test series decider against Australia, with the sporting rivalry between the two nations to fuel the players.
The third Test at the SCG will be the final match of an arduous campaign for the English players, who started their domestic season back in September, with many of them having just a short break after the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa finished in August.
Captain Courtney Lawes said team leaders and management including coach Eddie Jones had spoken about getting the preparation balance right this week.
“Because we can’t taper off as such and not be ready for the weekend, but we’ve got to make sure we’ve got some in the tank for sure,” Lawes said.
“We as players will be honest with Eddie and I’m sure we’ll find the right balance.
“We’ve got plenty of stuff to work on without a doubt, which is the exciting part about this week.
“If we go out and win this weekend, it will be only the second time we’ve won [a Test series] over here.
“It would mean a lot to us to come from 1-0 down to win the series, gives a young squad like that a lot of belief.”
(Continue below …)
England forwards coach Matt Proudfoot dismissed the suggestion fatigue could be a factor for his team this weekend.
“I don’t think that comes into the equation. That type of talk would be totally disrespectful for the challenge that lies in front of us,” Proudfoot said.
‘That’s not something we’ve spoken about or needed to speak about or even be iterated in small conversations in the corridors.
“The guys are on it for this game, it’s one-all, it’s all to play for.
“The history of England-Australia, I’ve watched the competition from the outside for years and when you’re in it, you respect that competition, it’s two proud nations and two proud rugby teams.”
Proudfoot expected Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou to retain his starting spot after returning from injury last week.
“I think the nature of the game is you probably put your biggest hitter out there, knowing the Australians in sport they aren’t conservative, they are aggressive,” Proudfoot said.
“[Wallabies coach] Dave Rennie is an aggressive coach he tends to go with his style.”
