 Australia coach Eddie Jones has baited England in the past |
Australia coach Eddie Jones has fired the first verbal shot in the pre-match sparring ahead of England's Test in Melbourne next month. Jones has questioned whether Clive Woodward's Grand Slam winners will be able to retain their expansive style under pressure Down Under.
England have won 25 of their last 27 Tests, including their last three against the Wallabies - all at Twickenham.
They will take on the world champions on 21 June under a closed roof at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium, a week after facing the All Blacks in Wellington.
"England have been developing a style of play which is very expansive, but they have a tendency under pressure to go back to a safety-first game," Jones said.
"I'll be very interested to see if in Australia on a hard, fast track, when the side's under pressure, they continue to play that style of rugby or revert to their cultural game."
AUSTRALIA'S PRE-WC TESTS 7 Jun: Ireland (Perth) 14 Jun:Wales (Sydney) 21 Jun: England (Melb'ne) 12 Jul: S Africa (Cape Town) 26 Jul: N Zealand (Sydney) 2 Aug: S Africa (Perth) 16 Aug: N Zealand (Auckland) |
The England match is one of seven Australia will play before launching the defence of their World Cup crown against Argentina on 10 October. Jones denied he would be using the games to experiment ahead of the World Cup, but admitted he would be looking to settle on his "best combinations".
"What we need is to get depth and flexibility in every position," he added.
"I don't see that as experimentation but we want three players in every spot before the World Cup."
One change may see goal-kicking centre Matt Burke restored to his old position of full-back, with Mat Rogers having broken a foot and Chris Latham out with a rib injury.