Hansen lauds Jones after England equal All Blacks' record
Eddie Jones' transformative effect on England's fortunes stems from his ability to create a culture of hard work within his squad, according to New Zealand counterpart Steve Hansen.
England's 61-21 Six Nations-clinching victory over Scotland on Saturday saw them tie the All Blacks' record of 18 Test wins on the bounce.
A shot at a second consecutive Grand Slam awaits next weekend against Ireland, who ended the the run of Hansen's side in November.
Having been dumped out of their home World Cup in the pool stage before Jones' arrival, Hansen said England's revival was down to one simple thing.
Countdown to Dublin...
Eddie Jones looks ahead to next weekend's RBS 6 Nations finale: https://t.co/trziKAI1jj pic.twitter.com/c2hCyHir6m
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 12, 2017
"Eddie has installed a want and a desire that has not been there," Hansen told the BBC.
"We always thought England had plenty of talent, but did not want to work hard, but they are doing that under Eddie and loving it.
"The harder you work, the more results you get, so it is no surprise they are putting a run together that is pretty impressive.
"Sometimes you get players, we have a lot of them over here, who are very talented, but do not have the work ethic.
"It's not the players' fault, but then someone comes in their lives, a parent, a teacher or in this case Eddie as a coach, who instils a work ethic and creates a vision that excites them and people change their habits.
"It looks like that is what has happened and it is great for rugby."
England's winning streak started in October 2015 under Stuart Lancaster with a 60-3 win over Uruguay that brought the curtain down on their botched World Cup Pool A qualification bid, as Australia and Wales progressed.
Latest Comments
The prem games this season have mainly been great to watch , with the exception of Sale. So boring and predictable.
Let's have more of Bristol, Bath , Quins etc style of play.
Rugby needs expansive play to put more bums on seats . Not the dirge of rolling forward mauls constantly trying to bully their way over the line.
It has its place yes to draw the defence but the fans want to see more running rugby . Not win at any cost and sod the entertainment .
So Borthwick should drop Marcus Smith? He's the odd one out, forcing the rest of the English backline into a gameplay they don't know. Replacing him with Fin or Ford makes everyone more likely to succeed.
Go to comments