England head to Melbourne for next Saturday’s second Test knowing one more win would complete a series triumph over the World Cup finalists and identify them as a genuine force in the global game.
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“There’s a lot of expectation about the Wallaby team, they’ve come back from the World Cup as the second best team in the world”, he said. “We have made history today but it is not good enough for us”.
“We haven’t played together as a front row yet this year so this is our first opportunity to get out there”.
England tourists past might have crumbled after going two tries down in the first 30 minutes to an Australia side playing running rugby at pace and with an accuracy that northern hemisphere sides can still only dream of.
“It was just important to get the victory and continue the good work we did in the Six Nations”. England, who led 13-29 midway through the second half, nearly let the match slip as Australia came storming back to get within four points at 28-32.
Ford has endured a mixed season for club and country and was left out of the starting XV, with Owen Farrell and Luther Burrell preferred in midfield, but helped set up two of England’s three tries after replacing the latter, with Farrell moving to inside centre.
“Obviously (we’ll miss) the skills he brings to the game and that dynamic we have in the back row with Michael and Scott but we’ll probably create a different type of complementary nature now”.
“I hope he doesn’t recover in time for Saturday and you never know”, Jones said.
It leaves Australia head coach Michael Cheika with a hard decision to make.
And Jones raised exception to the wider treatment of him and his side in the buildup to the opening game of the three-match series, including the television promotion for host broadcaster Fox Sports, in which former Wallabies players made light of England’s past failings in Australia and derided its chances.
‘You’ve got guys like Dylan Hartley, James Haskell and Chris Robshaw – they’ve been through the mill.
“What we’ve done tonight is give ourselves one more game in the series”, Jones said.
Eddie Jones hit out at the Australian media, with the England coach angry at “demeaning and disrespectful” treatment his team has received down under.
“I have to know my role in the team and stick to what I’m good at, not doing anything out of character”.
“We’ve now got a better handle on what we need to do to get better”.
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Australia too often looked predictable as they tried to batter England’s steely defensive line rather than change up their tactics, and they also conceded a 15-8 penalty count. “There’s no doubt about that”.
