EDDIE JONES HAS thanked the “Typhoon Gods” and admitted England’s World Cup campaign will benefit from the cancellations that have hit the tournament as a result of Typhoon Hagibis.
The decision to call off England’s final Pool C game against France has allowed Jones to take his players on a mid-tournament retreat, with the squad already making their way out of Tokyo and heading for Miyazaki , the location of their pre-World Cup training camp.
“We found out officially this morning but there were rumours flying around last night and we were glued to our phones,” said Jones.
“We were preparing for the game and we were in game mode and when it was off, we are in preparation mode. We can’t control it and we are told what to do.”
Miyazaki is not expected to be impacted by the typhoon, and is just a three-hour bus journey from Oita, where England will play their quarter-final next weekend.
And the England head coach could not disguise the fact that getting the weekend off could prove hugely beneficial to his team, who played their first three pool games over the space of just 13 days.
“We love Miyazaki beef. We have 80kg of a special consignment coming Saturday night. Billy (Vunipola) is allowed his beef again,” Jones continued.
“We will do a bit of light training Friday, a good hit out on Saturday and a few beers, some beef and get ready for the week ahead.
“We are not concerned at all, we are excited. Who would have thought we would have two relatively easy games, one tough game and then two weeks to prepare for a quarter-final?
“Someone is smiling on us. The typhoon gods maybe.”
With the England v France game now chalked off as a 0-0 draw and both teams awarded two points, England have topped Pool C with 17 points, setting them up for a quarter-final meeting with the runners-up in Pool D, which is expected to be Australia.
Jones confirmed England are confident of having Billy Vunipola, Jack Nowell and Joe Marler all available for the quarter-finals, which they will now enter on the back of an extra weeks rest compared to their opponents.
“We have a fairly exceptional record in two-week preparations. We are batting at around 95 per cent and so we have to find five per cent from somewhere.
“Of course, everyone is disappointed we are not to play France and we put in a lot of work – emotional, physical and tactical – but we don’t control the situation and World Rugby has made a decision and we have no issue with it and are just getting on with it.
“Two weeks is the preparation we have so why worry about it. We are prepared to take it.”
Andy Dunne and Murray Kinsella join Gavan Casey to preview Ireland-Samoa, and discuss the utter farce of the World Cup falling foul of Typhoon Hagibis.
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