England Brush Off Jones' Warning Ahead of Japan Clash

England have hit back at Eddie Jones' suggestion that they could be vulnerable to an upset by Japan on Saturday, with the former England coach arguing that their attention may already be drifting towards the New Zealand game that follows.

It is the kind of pointed comment Jones has never been shy about making. He led England to the 2019 World Cup final, and his remarks were clearly designed to get a reaction by planting the idea that a side with one eye on the All Blacks could be caught out by a team with little to lose.

England's response was to reject that framing. The message from their camp is that the Japan match is the only thing on the agenda this week, and that the New Zealand fixture will be treated as a separate test rather than a distraction.

The history gives Jones' argument some weight, though. Japan have a track record of rattling bigger nations, most famously when they beat South Africa at the 2015 World Cup, a result Jones oversaw as their coach. That is a reminder that no fixture against Japan should be treated as a formality, whatever comes next on the calendar.