England must win their first match against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, head coach Eddie Jones said, stressing the importance of striking an early blow in the three-test series.
Jones’s men, who won a Six Nations grand slam in March, open the rugby tour against the World Cup finalists at Lang Park, followed by matches in Melbourne and Sydney.
“We have to win the first one. That’s what the series is about, the first test,” Jones told British media.
There are two tests to go after that but the first is going to set up one side to win the series and you want to be the side that wins the series.
“We want to win the first test and if we do that we put ourselves in positions to do all sorts of things and that’s our target.”
England, who warmed up for the series with a 27-13 win over Wales at Twickenham last month, have only beaten their hosts on Australian soil three times, most recently in Sydney in 2010. “We don’t have any excuses,” Jones said.
“We’ve come here to put our best foot forward and, if we’re good enough, we’re going to win. If it’s not good enough, we’ll go back home and we’ll learn.”
Cheika dodges Jones jabs ahead of England opener
Brisbane: Australia coach Michael Cheika yesterday refused to rise to comments from Eddie Jones yesterday after his England counterpart threw some verbal jabs ahead of this week’s Test series opener.
The pair are friends and former team-mates from their days at Sydney club Randwick but Cheika steered clear of engaging in a war of words before Saturday’s game in Brisbane.
Jones, who led England to a Grand Slam in the Six Nations this year in his first season in charge, has been sniping away since his squad arrived last Thursday.
He suggested Cheika was playing a “smoke and mirrors” game and “boxing clever” over the make-up of his extended matchday squad for the opening match.
Jones, who suggested a pan-Australian conspiracy when he had his bags searched by customs at Brisbane airport, even had a guess at naming the Wallabies’ likely backline.
But Cheika, who coached Australia to last year’s World Cup final after thumping England 33-13 in the pool stages, was not taking the bait.
“It hasn’t been nasty. He’s just doing what he thinks his team needs,” Cheika told reporters.
“He thinks his team might need this obviously, so that’s what he’s doing to support his team, which is only normal for a coach to do.
“We probably look at it a slightly different way. We’re working internally, I suppose, around our mental strength.”
Cheika said he will instead focus his energies on getting the Wallabies ready to perform.
“My focus is very much with our team,” he said. “I very much want to dedicate all the energy I have to our guys and making sure I’m doing my job properly.
“I don’t want my players to think that all that stuff is going to win us the game.
“But at the end of the day what will win us the game is hard work, aggression, speed, good skills, hunger and being prepared to do whatever it takes and that’s what I want to build into our lads this week.”
In 17 previous meetings in Australia, the Wallabies have won all but three Tests and never lost in four encounters in Brisbane.
Eddie Jones
