Eddie Jones has revealed he will not watch England’s next World Cup opponents Argentina play Tonga on Saturday but plans to embark on a scouting mission of potential quarter-final rivals by attending Wales against Australia on Sunday.
It is understood the head coach does not intend to change his plans in light of Piers Francis’s citing for a dangerous tackle on the USA’s Will Hooley with the England centre set to face a disciplinary hearing in Tokyo in the coming days. Francis will be accompanied by England’s QC Richard Smith with Jones in attendance for the marquee Pool D fixture instead. England are on the same side of the draw as Wales and Australia so Jones and his coaches will get a close-up view of their likely quarter-final opponents.
Argentina are playing Tonga in Osaka on Saturday – only 20 miles from Kobe, where England are currently based – before Jones’s side face the Pumas in a week. Jones, however, has given his squad the weekend off and said: “I won’t watch that game. I’ll watch other games. Argentina have very much gone back to their 2007 game. [They are a] high-kicking team, which they hadn’t been.”
England’s attack coach, Scott Wisemantel, has identified an emphasis on kicking across the tournament but none of Jones’s staff are due to be in Osaka. “You look at the way teams attack and defend,” he said. “I am looking for space. I try to identify where there is space and come up with ideas of how I might manipulate that. There is a trend in the tournament. The accuracy of the kicking games. The better teams have better kick strategies.”
Francis could be ruled out of the rest of the tournament after he was cited for the incident that occurred only seven seconds into Thursday’s victory.
He is the fourth player cited at the World Cup following World Rugby’s promised clampdown on high tackles and the governing body’s public reprimand for its referees this week. Under World Rugby regulations, any sanctions that involve contact with the head warrant a mid-range entry point and therefore a minimum of six weeks. Australia’s Reece Hodge and Samoa’s Rey Lee-Lo were both handed six-week bans, reduced to three for mitigation. A three-week ban at the World Cup equates to three matches so Francis would not be able to play again until the semi-finals, were England to get that far.
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Team guides
Pool A: Ireland, Japan, Russia, Samoa, Scotland
Pool B: Canada, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa
Pool C: Argentina, England, France, Tonga, USA
Pool D: Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Uruguay, Wales
The USA flanker John Quill, who was sent off for a sickening shoulder to Owen Farrell, was on Friday given a three-match ban. Wisemantel confirmed that Farrell has no delayed after-effects of the shoulder charge.
Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell are both expected to be available to face Argentina after both came through training on Friday. With England also hopeful over Henry Slade, Jones was set to have a full complement of 31 players to select from against the Pumas, Francis’s citing notwithstanding.