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You are the guys who don't rate him - Jones lauds Brown after MOM display
By Christopher Devine
Eddie Jones poked fun at reporters who may have questioned Mike Brown's value to England after the full-back was named man of the match in a hard-fought Six Nations victory over Wales on Saturday.
Brown was particularly impressive in defence and under the high ball as the reigning champions ground out a 12-6 win thanks to two early tries from Jonny May.
Asked to comment on Brown's display, England head coach Jones made a point of highlighting criticism of the Harlequins player that he feels has been unfair.
"He's done that for 24 Tests for us," said the Australian in a news conference, referencing the number of wins in his 25 matches at the helm.
"He's our full-back, he carries the high ball, he plays with courage, he plays the way we want England to play.
"You are the guys who don't rate him; you are the guys who are always selecting someone else ahead of him. So you've got to work it out, not me.
"Test match rugby is about Test match players that are tough. They've got a certain range of skills for Test match rugby, which is different from club rugby, it's different from European rugby."
England survived two major scares against Wales as Gareth Anscombe saw a try controversially ruled out by the TMO and Scott Williams was forced into touch by Sam Underhill late on when the centre looked certain to score in the corner.
"I think it's a win built around a lot of courage, a lot of belief in the team," said Jones, who declined to comment specifically on the TMO decision that opposite number Warren Gatland labelled a "terrible mistake".
"The execution of the gameplan by the players was absolutely outstanding, and then their application and courage and effort in defence was first-class.
"We'll just enjoy the moment, maybe have a few beers tonight, a few red wines, enjoy the occasion and then we'll worry about what we've got to work on later."
England did lose Sam Simmonds and Anthony Watson to injuries, but both players are expected to recover ahead of the trip to Scotland in a fortnight.
"Sam's got a bit of a joint problem in his shoulder," explained Jones.
"Anthony has got a couple of knocks. At this stage, we'd hope they'd both be right for Scotland."
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Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players Id never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. We'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
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