England lacked understanding, says Jones

Nov 11, 2017 - 5:40 PM Coach Eddie Jones described England's 21-8 victory over Argentina as a "grindathon" and few in the 82,000 crowd would have disagreed with him as the hosts struggled to find any cohesion in a game desperately short of fluid rugby.

Tries in each half by Nathan Hughes and Semesa Rokoduguni and the boot of George Ford were enough to see off a Pumas side who responded with a late Nicolas Sanchez try. But England were a long way from their best and were grateful for Argentina's errant kicking which led to five misses from their six goal attempts.

"Yep, it was a grindathon", Jones told reporters. "We were off the pace a bit but we did some things well.

"We haven't played together since March (excluding the June tour to Argentina without his British and Irish Lions) and the understanding wasn't there, which is understandable.

"But it was a good win. You can't underestimate (Argentina). They are a good team and they played well, and it's a great contest for us."

Jones usually cuts a relatively serene figure during matches but was shown hammering his desk in frustration after another England penalty offence.

The Australian made no apology though.

"We want to play good rugby so there's no reason why I shouldn't be frustrated," he said. "Every time we created something a pass would go astray or something. Henry Slade, did some good things but that understanding at 10-12-13 wasn't really there.

"Attack-wise we need to finish opportunities and we gave away some silly penalties."

England face Australia next week before finishing their series against Samoa, and Jones did not hide the fact that quick improvement is needed.

"We're hoping Australia bring their best game and we'll see where we're at," he said. "We have a very clear vision of how we want to play against Australia."

Source: AAP