Eddie Jones demands England lose fear of playing Wales in Cardiff as Six Nations showdown beckons
Head coach Eddie Jones has demanded his England players conquer any inhibitions they may harbour over facing Wales in the cauldron of Cardiff’s Principality Stadium during Saturday’s crunch Six Nations battle.
England, grand slam winners 12 months ago, began their championship defence with a narrow 19-16 victory over France at Twickenham at the weekend, setting a new national record of 15 successive Test triumphs.
In the aftermath of their win against Les Bleus, Jones was quick to highlight his side’s indifferent record on Welsh soil, which since the start of 2005 alone has seen England lose five of seven matches.
“Psychologically you have to get it right when you play Wales in Wales and I’m trying to get to the bottom of why the English are petrified of playing Wales in Wales,” said the Australian.
“It’s an amazing atmosphere. How could you not want to play rugby there? It’s one of the greatest rugby countries in the world, so to play Wales in Cardiff with that sort of atmosphere is one of the great delights of rugby.
“But obviously it’s been difficult for the English to cope with it. The record there is horrendous so we need to find a way for them to see it as being delightful.”
Jones’s predecessor Stuart Lancaster opted to play Welsh favourite Hymns and Arias over loudspeakers at training in a bid to acclimatise his players to the expected raucous atmosphere prior to England’s 21-16 success there in 2015.
At Lancaster’s request that match was played with the Principality Stadium’s retractable roof open, while England have the final decision on how this year’s clash is contested. The Welsh preference is for the roof to be closed.
“I don’t care,” added Jones, who lost his final match in charge of Australia against Wales in Cardiff in 2005. “They can have fireworks going off, it doesn’t matter, it’s the same for both teams.
“The louder and more rowdy it is, the better. Those are the games you want to win and you’ve got to be able to cope. So what happens in the World Cup final when you don’t like the atmosphere? You’ve got to cope.
“Wales have won 60 per cent of Tests [against England in Wales] so we have got to find a way to overcome that. But it’s not going to be overcome by repeating history.
“We’ve got to work out what has been done in the past and make sure we don’t do it, because you know what the definition of insanity is, don’t you?”