Maro Itoje has insisted England will be ready for any curveballs Eddie Jones may throw on Saturday, warning his side they cannot “sleepwalk” into battle against Japan.
Jones, England’s longest-serving head coach after his stint between 2015 and 2022, has strongly hinted he will set his side up to unsettle his former charges at Twickenham, warning that they do not like “unorthodox” rugby. The hosts are heavy favourites to back up last week’s record win over Australia with another emphatic victory and have never lost to Japan but Steve Borthwick has made 10 personnel and two positional changes, fielding an inexperienced side against that of his predecessor.
“The overarching message this week is that we need to be alive,” said Itoje. “It’s impossible to tick off every eventuality that an opposition might do, especially a team like Japan, who have a very distinct way of playing. They’re very consistent at getting speed into the game. They could do a number of things, so let’s be alive and let’s not sleepwalk into things and think ‘most teams play like this’ because Japan aren’t most teams.
“One, we need to be alive. Two, we need to impose our game. We need to play the way we want to play. Whether it’s unorthodox shapes in attack, things around the set piece. I know they’re going to want to keep the ball in play or come up with special unique plays. If we’re alive and we’ve got our house in order then we should be able to deal with what they throw at us.”
Jones gave Itoje his debut in 2016 and oversaw his development into one of the world’s leading second-rows. When the Australian was in charge, England won three Six Nations titles, including one grand slam, and reached the final of the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
“I’m sure [the crowd] will receive him warmly,” added Itoje. “It’s not the first time he’s been back. Most coaches want to keep you thinking. Eddie would throw a whole load of weird and wonderful things at us to keep us sharp and keep us on our toes.”
Borthwick, meanwhile, has a debt of gratitude to Jones, who gave him his coaching break with Japan before appointing him England assistant. “What [Eddie] does really well is maximises the strengths of any team he coaches,” said Borthwick. “So from coaching the Japan team to coaching the England team, two very different teams, both of which he did really well with.
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“One of the aspects that I see is how alive you need to be mentally, emotionally in a game of Test match rugby and the intensity that demands. And I use that word very deliberately with them – you’ve got to be alive. Because what happens is the quality of player you’re playing against, any mental switch-off is the moment where one of these players will find it and go.”
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