Eddie Jones: That rat poison gets into players heads and we try to keep it out
Eddie Jones has made just one change for the trip to Dublin
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After beating France last time out, there seems to be a different glow surrounding Eddie Jones’ England side.
Overcoming their opponents 23-20 at Twickenham last Saturday, attentions have now turned to an Ireland team who impressed against Scotland in their penultimate Six Nations fixture.
England have made just the one change to their starting XV, with Elliot Daly replacing the injured Henry Slade at outside centre. Usually deployed at full-back, the Saracens man found himself amongst the replacements against France, but he certainly had an impact from the bench.
Essentially, the change is like for like as Daly has played the majority of his domestic rugby in midfield before being moved into the back three by Jones after gaining international recognition.
Each of Daly and Slade are left-footed, kick the ball well, carry well, but the only difference being that Daly is arguably quicker.
Given how outside centre is widely considered to be his best position, many are looking forward to seeing what Daly will do on Saturday afternoon.
Daly's displays in an England shirt have been under the spotlight since the beginning of the Six Nations, but Jones says a player's performance isn't down to a lack of confidence but more to do with the decision making of individuals and outside noise getting in.
“They might think differently, they might work a little harder, they might work a bit less, but we are always trying to always get them to think right,” Jones said on Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t think there is any such thing as confidence. You either think right or you think wrongly and at the wrong time you start to listen to the poison that is written in the media. That rat poison gets into players heads and we try to keep it out of their head.
“We try to spray all of that rat poison that you (journalists) try to put in and get it out of their head so we are always working hard to get it out of their head.”
The selection of Daly will have also added intrigue. Uncapped Wasps centre Paolo Odogwu has played the majority of his club rugby this season in that position and he has been in England's training squad throughout the tournament.
But, we will not see the former Sale Shark make his international bow in these championships, with Daly’s place on the bench now occupied by Harlequins’ Joe Marchant.
Playing some of the best rugby of his career so far at the Stoop, the 24-year-old was called up from the shadow squad following the injury to Slade. Jumping ahead of Odogwu for selection, Jones says the Wasps man has made progress in camp, despite not gaining his first cap.
“We are really pleased with the way he is going,” Jones said. “Some players need a period of adaptation. He is a much better player now and if he keeps working hard on his game that he needs to to be a Test player, he is going to be a great prospect.
“We are really pleased with the way he is going, but for this game given the context of the game against Ireland, where it is going to be a huge aerial game, we feel Joe Marchant is better coming off the bench for us.”
We already know that the Irish will be without Leinster duo James Ryan and Garry Ringrose, the pair injured during their recent win over Scotland. Tadhg Beirne slots into in the second-row, whilst Connacht's Bundee Aki comes into the midfield in the place of Ringrose.
Andy Farrell has made a total of six changes to his team that last played, with James Lowe dropped from the squad entirely and replaced by Ulster's Jacob Stockdale. Conor Murray, Jack Conan, Dave Kilcoyne and Josh van der Flier also get starting roles for the encounter.
If you look at the very recent history of this fixture, England have a much better record, winning the last four meetings between the sides.
It was in 2018 when Ireland were last victorious, that game a Grand Slam decider under Joe Schmidt. Since then, England have gone to Dublin for the 2019 Six Nations and come away with a win, whilst the three most recent encounters have taken place at Twickenham in the Six Nations, a pre-World Cup friendly and the Autumn Nations Cup.
But as much as recent results suggest that England are favourites, the team’s captain, Owen Farrell, doesn’t put much into this suggestion.
“It weren’t too long ago we had a good couple of losses against them where we probably didn’t have our best performances,” Farrell said.
“They are a very good side and we always like playing against the good sides and I don’t think the form of the last games really mean anything for Saturday really. It will be about what happens on Saturday and that’s an exciting thing for us.”
