Eddie Jones believes New Zealand have been holding themselves back for the World Cup. The All Blacks finished third in the Rugby Championship, their lowest placing this century, and have this month faced losing top position in the world rankings for the first time in a decade. The England World Cup winner Ben Cohen was among those to say New Zealand were no longer the favourites for this year’s tournament after their home draw to South Africa and heavy defeat in Australia, but the England head coach has advised caution.
“The last thing you want to be is flying before the World Cup,” he said, speaking before Saturday’s 36-0 All Blacks win against Australia. “When you fly, you have to come down. You go into some games [before the tournament] under-prepared. Are you telling me that New Zealand have been going 100%? Look at it historically. Before New Zealand won the last two World Cups, they would go absolutely balls-out in the Tri-Nations.
“They learned that this period is about crafting your players and your game to have the discipline to be able to play in a number of ways. When you get to a World Cup you cannot rely on one approach. You have to be able to adapt and that is what the games in the buildup are for. I am sure that Steve Hansen [the New Zealand head coach] cares about where they finished, but having seen the way they have played what I do know is that he is planning for the future.”
Statistics back up Jones’s argument. In the three World Cup years this decade, New Zealand have won five and drawn one of their 10 matches in the Rugby Championship. In the other seven years, have won 39 and drawn one out of 42, winning the tournament outright each time.
The last time they were the outright winners in a World Cup year was in 2007 when they went on to endure their worst finish, knocked out in the quarter-finals by France in Cardiff. Since then, they have used a Rugby Championship in a World Cup year to try out players and combinations.
“This is the period when you discover things about yourselves,” said Jones after England became the first side to announce their 31 for Japan. “This is my fourth World Cup and I know that you can do a number of different things. Is there confusion in the way New Zealand have been playing? Not at all.”
One reason Jones announced his World Cup squad three weeks earlier than he needed to, and with two warm-up matches still to play, was feedback he had from England’s unsuccessful last two World Cup campaigns, having talked to the head coaches involved, Martin Johnson and Stuart Lancaster. “It can create tension in the squad if you leave it late because we choose players from 12 clubs,” said Jones, whose squad was culled from 11 of the teams in the Premiership last season, the exception being Bristol. “The media here is the most powerful in the world and I decided to minimise the noise.”
Writing in the Japan Times this past week, Jones said: “I’m confident that England can win the World Cup. We’ve got enough talent on the team, and then you have to have the hard work and the togetherness to make sure you’re right for a tournament that is probably the most evenly matched that we’ve seen for a long time. The margins between the teams are getting smaller, and this time you have eight or nine capable of winning it. We feel like we’re one of those in there competing, and if we keep learning and improving, we’re going to be in a good position to lift the trophy.”