LONDON (UK) – Beginning his six weeks of preparations for international rugby, England coach Eddie Jones said he was focusing more on the changing face of the ruck rather than the impact of coronavirus.
He is beginning a three-day training camp on Tuesday although a host of players are unavailable because of club commitments and COVID issues. After 16 players tested positive at Sale, one game was postponed and another cancelled.
“I’m not a health commissioner, I’m a rugby coach and the only thing I worry about is the rugby,” he said in a briefing on Tuesday.
“I really don’t know what’s happened (at Sale), all I try to do is select the players that are available. I think this is going to be the way it is at the moment. I just saw the (England) football, they had three players unavailable this morning, they can’t go into camp. It’s a fact of life at the moment, that’s what we have to deal with, we can’t get too worried about it.”
Jones has been cruising through the country taking in as many Premiership games as possible.
“In New Zealand Super Rugby and Top 14 we’ve seen a lot more quick ruck ball,” he said. “We’ve also seen a lot more transition in the game because if you’re good at the breakdown you not only have the opportunity to have quick ruck ball, you also have the opportunity to turn the ball over.
“So if that continues in test rugby we need to be equipped to play a little bit flatter and a little bit faster and then into transition to be able to flick the switch quickly and get in position quicker than the opposition.
“We’ve been doing some preliminary work on that and we’ll wait and see how the game evolves now.”
Team England will have a non-cap game against the Barbarians on Oct. 25 before they travel to Italy for their rescheduled final game of the Six Nations on Oct. 31.