Eddie Jones revels in 'great feeling' of England silencing Australia's crowd

By Sports Desk July 09, 2022

Eddie Jones said silencing Australia's supporters was a "great feeling" after England claimed a 25-17 victory in Brisbane to level the three-match series.

England had lost their past four games heading into the second Test at Suncorp Stadium, including a defeat to the Barbarians. They were jolted by last week's 30-28 loss to Australia in Perth but responded in style on Saturday.

Billy Vunipola crossed over early on for England's only try and Owen Farrell kicked four penalties to give the visitors a 19-0 first-half lead.

Taniela Tupou reduced the arrears before the interval and Samu Kerevi walked in a second, either side of a couple more Farrell penalties, but England saw out the victory.

After getting one over on his country of birth and the team he previously managed for four years, Jones admitted he took great joy from leaving the home hordes disappointed.

"I love coaching at Suncorp Stadium, it's a good experience," Jones said. "You've got 48,000 people all full of drink and all they want to see is their team win.

"When you turn them away, it's a great experience. A great feeling. I was coming out from the coaches' box and they all have their scarves on.

"When did Australians start wearing scarves? It's all the rage, isn't it? They are not so smart now.

"Before the game they are coming up saying to me, 'You are going to get belted tonight'. Now they are a little bit more quiet. So that's good. I enjoy that."

England have now won four of their past five games in Oceania, having won just one of the previous 12 away matches against teams from that continent.

Saturday's victory sets up a thrilling decider in Sydney next weekend, and Jones has no doubt it is the home side that will be under more pressure.

"It's 1-1. And the pressure's on the other mob now," he said. "So they've got to deal with that pressure. We'll find ways of getting better.

"It was a good effort by the boys. We just tightened our game up a little bit this week.

"The boys carried out the game-plan really well, and played with a lot of intensity, a lot of passion, and we had three new caps. Incredible.

"It's just time together. We're a very young, inexperienced team. It takes time to put things together, and we'll be more cohesive next week."

There was one big negative to come out of the game for Jones, however, as Maro Itoje failed to return to the field after undergoing a head injury assessment.

Itoje collided with Hunter Paisami shortly before the interval and Jones later confirmed the lock will play no part in the deciding Test.

"The medical situation with Maro is that he will be out next weekend," Jones said.

Prior to this weekend's fixtures, Itoje's 83 line-outs won in Tests since the beginning of 2021 was at least 21 more than any other player from a Tier One nation.

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