Eddie Jones installs England as fittest team in Europe after Cardiff joy
Head coach Eddie Jones aimed one final dig at rivals Wales by declaring that England had overtaken them as the fittest team in Europe after his side claimed a dramatic Six Nations triumph in Cardiff on Saturday.
Their 21-16 victory, achieved courtesy of wing Elliot Daly’s late try at the Principality Stadium, extended England’s winning streak to 16 matches and maintained their hopes of a second successive grand slam.
It was not for the first time that England had struck late. A week earlier, centre Ben Te’o crossed the line with 10 minutes remaining to dispatch France at Twickenham, a recurring theme based on design, not accident, according to Jones.
“We’re a fit side now,” he said. “How many games out of our last 15 wins have we won in the last 20 minutes? That’s not by coincidence. It’s because we train to win those last 20 minutes. We back ourselves.
“Wales were the benchmark team in Europe for winning games in the last 20 minutes. Now we’ve beaten them three times in a row maybe we deserve that title.”
Jones attributes his team’s increased fitness levels to a process called tactical periodization, a practice adopted from football which the likes of Manchester United’s former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and ex-Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas have employed.
“Every day we train a specific parameter of the game,” added Jones. “We have one day where we have a physical session and do more contacts than we would do in a game.
“Then we have a fast day where we try to train for at least 60 per cent of the session above game speed. We don’t do extra fitness. It’s all done within those training sessions. Because of that we’ve improved our fitness enormously.”
Jones, meanwhile, has confirmed that prop Mako Vunipola and wing Anthony Watson are set to be in contention for England’s showdown with Italy at Twickenham on 26 February after knee and hamstring injuries respectively.
“Mako has a big chance,” said Jones. “He’ll play for Saracens at the weekend and if he gets through that game we will bring him to camp for the Italy week.
“Watson ran at 95 per cent on Friday so we are confident he will be able to play against Italy. It will be great to have him back and we will probably use him.”
In respect of No8 Billy Vunipola, who suffered knee ligament damage in November, Jones said: “Billy might get back for Ireland [on 19 March]. He’s be pretty useful off the bench at 150kg.”