- Title: Jones keen to use scrum as weapon against Argentina
- Date: 3rd October 2019
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (OCTOBER 3, 2019) (REUTERS) ENGLAND HEAD COACH EDDIE JONES AND CAPTAIN OWEN FARRELL ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE FARRELL/JONES SPEAKING ABOUT FORMER AUSTRALIAN PLAYER AND RANDWICK RUGBY CLUB PRESIDENT JEFF SAYLE, WHO DIED RECENTLY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLAND HEAD COACH, EDDIE JONES, SPEAKING ABOUT FORMER AUSTRALIAN PLAYER AND RANDWICK RUGBY CLUB PRESIDENT JEFF SAYLE, WHO DIED RECENTLY, SAYING: "I would just like to pay a tribute to Jeff Sayle. He was a great mate of mine. It’s very sad, a very sad day for rugby because he is a good person. He gave a lot to the game - the number of players he coached, the number of teams he looked after. Even with England in 2016 he was the most welcome host. I can remember going for a few beers with him at the Coogee Bay Hotel. Just a great fella and a real loss for the game. We have got to make sure we keep those characters within rugby because it is so important and defines our game." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLAND HEAD COACH, EDDIE JONES, TALKING ABOUT ARGENTINA SCRUM, SAYING: "It is part of the Argentinian rugby culture so sometimes, like anything in life, you can have dormant periods but particularly when it is a fabric of your rugby it is quite easy to reignite and I think he (Argentina head coach Mario Ledesma) has done that particularly well. It will be a massive test on Saturday and they have scrummed against us yet. We believe our scrum can be a real weapon for us so hang onto your seats." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLAND HEAD COACH, EDDIE JONES, SAYING: "It is an interesting team, a strong team. We know that Argentina are at their best at World Cups. I think (Argentina hooker Augustin) Creevy spoke about a number of things this week, one of which was how tight they are as a team. They are pretty good team if they can get Creevy to come off the bench." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLAND HEAD COACH, EDDIE JONES, SAYING: "Difficult decisions mate. We have got four quality backrowers there, all competing for a spot. (Tom) Curry and (Sam) Underhill, particularly, given the conditions, we think will be useful in terms of the contest at the breakdown. (Lewis) Ludlam has just impressed us in the World Cup with his energy, his enthusiasm, he plays with no fear. But Mark Wilson is unlucky not to get selected." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLAND CAPTAIN, OWEN FARRELL, SAYING: "First of all we have had a longer preparation, so compared to the last game we played in, we have got a lot more time to prepare. So, we are looking forward to it now. There has been a longer build-up to this game, everybody is fresh, everybody is fit and everybody can't wait to play." NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING
- Embargoed: 17th October 2019 07:07
- Keywords: England Argentina Japan Randwick Rugby World Cup Eddie Jones Jeff Sayle rugby union Australia
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Rugby Union,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZJK37J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Eddie Jones said on Thursday (October 3) he expects to take the battle to Argentina in the scrum in Rugby World Cup Pool C match as England prepare to get serious in their bid to claim a second Webb Ellis trophy.
England have made a perfect start to the tournament with bonus points wins over Tonga and the United States to top the pool but now face their first tier-one opposition in the Pumas.
After mixing and matching in the warm-ups and first two matches of the tournament, Jones has named his strongest side for Saturday's (October 5) Tokyo Stadium clash against the twice World Cup semi-finalists.
They come up against an Argentina side in urgent need of a win to keep their World Cup dreams alive, having lost to France on the opening weekend.
Coached by former world class hooker Mario Ledesma, Argentina have tried to make their once formidable scrum a weapon again.
An emotional Jones was almost moved to tears as he paid tribute to his former coach Jeff Sayle, who died on Monday.
Sayle, a former flanker for Australia, was most famous in his homeland for being coach and then president of the Sydney-based Randwick Rugby Club.
During his time there, Sayle coached both Jones and Australian counterpart Michael Cheika.
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