Rugby World Cup 2019: England will have to play even better in the final, says Eddie Jones

England dominated New Zealand in an outstanding display, but Eddie Jones has demanded an improvement in the final next weekend.

Published : Oct 27, 2019 04:00 IST

Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler of England embrace following their side's victory in the semifinal in Yokohama. Photo: Getty Images
Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler of England embrace following their side's victory in the semifinal in Yokohama. Photo: Getty Images
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Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler of England embrace following their side's victory in the semifinal in Yokohama. Photo: Getty Images

Eddie Jones said England will have to take its game to another level in the Rugby World Cup final after dethroning "god of rugby" New Zealand.

England ended a seven-year wait for a victory over the All Blacks and beat them for the first time in a World Cup match with a dominant performance in Yokohama on Saturday. Manu Tuilagi's try inside two minutes set the tone and George Ford kicked 12 points as England set up a showdown with South Africa or Wales at the same venue next Saturday with a 19-7 triumph.

Sam Underhill and Ben Youngs had scores disallowed in a relentless display from the Red Rose, who denied New Zealand an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup triumph and replaced it at the top of the rankings.

England head coach Jones says his side must raise its standards even higher if it is to get its hands on the Webb Ellis Cup next weekend. "New Zealand are the god of rugby, so we had to take it to them. We wanted to show that we could take the game to them, try to put them on the back foot as much as we could," said the Australian.

 

Asked where the performance ranked among England's best of all time, he said: "It gives us another week. We are here for another week so we're looking forward to it. We're not historians, so we don't know.

"But we know that we can play better next week and we're going to have to play better, whoever we play against. We are looking forward to Wales and South Africa play a 3-3 draw, so they have to play extra time and it's still 3-3 and they have to play more extra time. That's the prediction."

 

Jones is backing England to win a second World Cup four years after it suffered the humiliation of failing to progress from its pool on home soil. "We've got the right focus. I can remember the meeting at Pennyhill Park, our first meeting together. We wanted to be the best team in the world and we're not the best team in the world," he said.

"We've an opportunity to play in a game where we can prove we are and that's the only thing we are concerned with."

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