Rugby World Cup 2019: Eddie Jones weighs up team rotation against USA as he targets pool improvement

Eddie Jones will today decide whether to stick or twist against the United States, with the England head coach having to pick a second side in the space of four days with Tuesday’s squad announcement.

The expectation is that Jones will name a number of players who featured in the lacklustre 35-3 victory over Tonga on Sunday, with the head coach himself claiming that “about 10-12” of them will be needed to go back-to-back.

“We’ll select our best 23 for that game,” said the Australian following the opening victory that puts England at the top of Pool C, a point ahead of France. “That’s been our policy for the last four years. We pride ourselves won having a strong 23. We intend to use the 23.”

While that is true in that players will be required to go again, a number of key names are expected to be rested for Thursday’s encounter in Kobe. Henry Slade is set to play a bigger role providing there are no after-effects from the bang to the knee he took in Sapporo, while the likes of Lewis Ludlam, Piers Francis and Joe Cokanasiga are expected to come into the matchday squad.

Yet flanker Sam Underhill, lock Courtney Lawes and fly-half George Ford could all be asked to go again after being replaced early in the second half against Tonga, while props Joe Marler and Dan Cole will have to feature in some capacity due to the lack of alternatives – though Jones is likely to swap in Ellis Genge and Dan Cole to start.

Jones was not overly concerned with England’s struggles against the Pacific Islanders. Though his side maintained control of the game for the entire 80 minutes, they struggled to take their chances as chance after chance went begging – Underhill and Ben Youngs both being held up over the line while Slade and Elliot Daly butchered a late opportunity through miscommunication.

It left England chasing the bonus-point try until the 77th minute, with replacements Jonathan Joseph and Luke Cowan-Dickie combining to ease English nerves and secure a maximum haul of five points. But Jones believes that is all he could ask from his team, given he would be concerned if they were peaking now.

Asked if he wants his side to peak towards the end of the pool stage – when England play Argentina and then France – Jones responded: “100 per cent that’s part of the plan. The closer we get to Tokyo, the more important the games are, but the next most important game is the USA so that is the only thing we are focusing on.

““Look, the World Cup is about building up, about progressing. There is a certain game at the end of the tournament that we would like to be in and we want to be at our best in that game. Along the way you have to keep improving.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the win. We came to Sapporo and we wanted five points. We have got everyone fit, we have got no tries on the board for two games in a row, we couldn’t be happier.”

Jones put a lot of England’s late fighting spirit to seal the bonus point down to an inspiring visit from Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer, with the former Manchester United manager making an unexpected trip to Bristol to give the squad a pep talk after Jones announced the final 31-man squad in mid-August.

“Whenever you get great people in they make an impact,” he said. “And you pick up one or two things. And that particularly resonated with me more so. I’m sure the players picked up on it. They’re just little tidbits of advice that help.

“Naturally there’s some urgency about what you want to do. But the fact is you don’t need to do anything different. You’ve got to be patient and just do the simple things over and over again. That showed today.”

That was apparent in the way that England ground their way to a bonus point, and lock Maro Itoje – who could well be one of those rested for Thursday’s match – echoed his coach’s thoughts on Ferguson’s visit.

“Sometimes when you hear of and see figures when you are growing up, they almost don’t feel real,” Itoje said. “He didn’t tell us when he was coming in, so he walked into the room and everyone almost swallowed some spit. It was: ‘it’s actually him’.

“Just being able to meet him and talk to him – the stories he had were amazing. I think we took a lot out of it.

“A lot of the time when the pressure’s on – with Fergietime - he [Fergie] said: ‘Don’t shoot. When the pressure’s on, don’t shoot, you’ll find a way to get into a better scoring position’. He didn’t like guys shooting from outside the box when the pressure is on.

“I think we can take a lot out of that. When the pressure is on, it’s not about the elaborate play, it’s not about the 50-50; it’s about doing the right thing.

“I am an Arsenal fan, so he made me cry a few times in my life! But it was very cool.”