Rugby World Cup: Eddie Jones says his England Samurai warriors are ready for ‘do-or-die’ clash against Australia
EDDIE JONES taunted Australia as he said his Samurai warriors would fight to the DEATH after dropping a selection bombshell and ruthlessly axing George Ford.
The England boss shocked his squad as he dumped Ford to the bench, despite him being his best player at the tournament ahead of their huge Wallabies quarterfinal.
Out-of-form skipper Owen Farrell starts at fly-half with Henry Slade coming into the centres alongside Manu Tuilagi – with Mako Vunipola and Courtney Lawes added into the pack.
And fired-up Jones compared his Wallaby hunters to Japan’s medieval Samurai soldiers as he spoke from the foothills of the Beppu mountains outside of Oita.
He said: “You know it’s do-or-die time.
“You see those hills at the back of us? That’s where all the Samurai lived.
“Every time the Samurai fought, one lived and one died. We’ve got 23, mate. And we’ve got eight in the caves up there.
“On Saturday – someone is going to live and someone is going to die. That’s what the game is about and that’s the excitement of the game.
“You get the best eight teams, all playing for their lives.
“That’s what I enjoy so much about a World Cup – every game is a knock-out. Is it different from coaching in other tournaments? Yep.
“Your preparation of your team is different, without a doubt.”
Ford first became a victim of a World Cup dumping in 2015 when he started the opening game against Fiji before slipping to the bench.
And after doing the same to the Leicester Tigers star, Jones said: “He’s disappointed, but he knows his role in the team.
“We’ve left a lot of good players and they’re all disappointed.”
The Aussies have been hammered 6-0 by Jones since he took over at Twickenham in 2016.
And things have previously turned ugly between him and rival coach Michael Cheika, his old Sydney teammate, who he has previously come to blows with.
But Jones said: “We’ve always been mates, we just don’t see each other very often.
“I live in Bagshot, so it’s pretty hard to get from Bagshot to Coogee, Sydney, for a coffee.
“So we don’t see each other, but I’m proud of him. I reckon he’s done a great job for Australian rugby.
“He has his heart on his sleeve, he gives it everything he’s got, you can’t ask for more than that. We know about Australia, they are a great tournament side.
“I think ‘Cheik’ has done a really good job. I’m proud of the job he does.”
As the verbals took a back seat Cheika admitted that he still finds it odd that his old Randwick buddy is coaching the old enemy.
He said: “It always hurts me when an Aussie is over there. Trevor Bayliss, Wayne Bennett – I want them home. But it is what it is.”
And after picking teenage wonder-kid Jordan Petaia, Cheika says his boys from Down Under have nothing to be scared of despite their awful run against England.
He added: “The fear inside us is dead. We are not afraid to go there and get it. That means it will be a great game.”