England gear up for 'better samurai'
WORLD CUP REACTION: Eddie Jones warned England to prepare for a “better samurai around the corner”.
His comments follow after England knocked out Jones’ native Australia with a crushing 40-16 quarterfinal win on Saturday.
This triumph under the Oita Stadium roof saw England equal their record 24-point margin of victory over Australia, a result achieved when Jones guided them to a 30-6 success at Twickenham two years ago.
It also meant Jones has won all seven of his Tests as England coach against Australia, after being appointed following a 2015 World Cup – where the Wallabies knocked the Red Rose brigade out with a 33-13 pool stage success at Twickenham.
Before the match, Jones had compared England to samurai warriors and it was a theme he returned to when he said: “It was a do-or-die game today [Saturday] and the best samurai were always the guys who had a plan but could adapt, had a calm head but were full of aggression.
“I thought we were like that today [Saturday].
“The challenge is how we get better because there is always a better samurai around the corner,” added Jones, whose team will face New Zealand in the last four after the reigning champions thrashed Ireland 46-14 later Saturday.
England outscored Australia four tries to one, with wing Jonny May marking his 50th cap with a double inside three first-half minutes.
Prop forward Kyle Sinckler then crossed for his first Test try in the second half before wing Anthony Watson went over late on.
‘We had to dig deep’
Meanwhile England captain Owen Farrell was faultless from the tee, landing all eight of his goal kicks for a 20-point haul.
“We had to dig deep in the first 20 minutes,” said Jones, Australia’s coach when they lost the 2003 World Cup final to England.
“They [Australia] had a lot of possession and were attacking well, it was an important part of the game.
“We made a couple of mistakes to let them back into the game but I was impressed by the ability of my team to refocus. It was a great job by Owen as captain.”
Three minutes into the second half, England’s lead was cut to a point at 17-16 after Marika Koroibete crossed for Australia’s only try of the game.
But Farrell stressed there had been no panic when England saw their lead dramatically reduced.
“The boys were calm and in control and we had clear messages about what we were going to do next. The lads ripped into that and we managed to get some points back straight away,” he said.
“This was a good performance but we don’t feel we are at our best yet.”
May limped off shortly before full-time, but Jones downplayed down fears over the fitness of his star flyer, who has now scored an impressive 27 tries in 50 Tests, by saying: “He just had a little bit of a twinge at the end so we took him off, but he should be fine.”
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