Rugby World Cup 2019: Eddie Jones pleased to see England seal bonus point ‘in Fergie time’

Eddie Jones was relieved to see his England side secure a bonus-point victory over Tonga in ‘Fergie Time’ after they left it late with Luke Cowan-Dickie’s 77th-minute try ensuring they claimed a maximum five-point haul from their opening Rugby World Cup match against Tonga.

England produced a misfiring 35-3 victory inside the Sapporo Dome, and although they rarely looked tested by the Pacific Islanders – who failed to get close to England’s line throughout the entire 80 minutes – it appeared at one stage that the favourites would fail so score four tries and clinch the additional bonus point up for grabs.

However, a strong line-break from replacement centre Jonathan Joseph allowed him to tee up Cowan-Dickie three minutes from time, ensuring England go top of Pool C ahead of France.

Jones admitted that the display was a “slow start” to their campaign, but referenced the visit of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to the squad’s training camp as a reason to be pleased with England’s display.

“The stuff that we were doing was creating a fair amount of pressure and we were creating opportunities,” Jones said. “We weren't quite finishing them off and there were a few handling errors. To keep pushing and keep our attitude was really good. That showed by getting the try at the end.

“We came here to get five points and we got five points. We've got no injuries and we know we can play better. Sometimes rugby is like that and the ball just doesn't stick. We left a number of points out there. But I'm so pleased with the attitude of the players. That's two Tests in a row that we haven't conceded a try. We know we can better and that's the goal for the USA game.

“During the lead up to the World Cup we had a number of coaches and specialists in. One person we were lucky enough to have in was Sir Alex Ferguson. One of the things his teams were renowned for was ‘Fergie time’. And the message was ‘be patient’ and that's what I enjoyed about our team today, there was no sign of panic and they kept on playing good rugby and the try came.

“It might have been easier if it had come a little bit earlier, but it came and that's a good sign.”

The England head coach has previously talked down the need to make a fast start to the tournament, and despite seeing New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland all make impressive statements early on, the Australian stressed the need for the side to build their performances as the tournament goes on.

“The thing about the World Cup, having been to a few of them, is the World Cup is not a 100m sprint,” he added. “So you don’t have to come out of the blocks and be absolutely fantastic now, what you have to be is steady, you have to be prude and you have to have a mindset of improvement and that’s what we’ve got.

“What percentage do we need to improve? I don’t know, but I know we’ll keep improving and that’s the mindset of the team.”

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Two of England’s four tries came from Manu Tuilagi, the wrecking-ball centre who by a country mile the best player out on the pitch, yet Jones still believes he is yet to reach his peak.

“Manu's increasingly getting close to his best,” said Jones. “He's training well and is in great physical nick. He enjoys being around the boys. The boys love playing with him and for a Samoan to play against Tongan it's a pretty special occasion.

“As it was for Billy today to play against his own country. And they wanted to hammer him! He handled it really well. Manu will only get better as the tournament goes on.”

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Jones played down injury fears over Jonny May and Henry Slade, with the former replaced early in the second half due to cramp and the later not suffering any lasting damage after a knock to the same knee that he injured last month.

The squad will travel to Kobe on Monday where they will prepare for their second Pool C encounter against the United States, before a nine-day gap to their crunch match with Argentina.