Eddie Jones sees positives despite thumping defeat

Eddie Jones praised England's ‘intent' despite their 52-21 hammering at the hands of the Barbarians on Sunday.

Though England were well beaten it was hard to deny that they had tried to play with adventure, particularly in the early part of the game, and Jones was keen to focus on his assessment on this aspect of the contest.

The comments came just before he named his squad for their tour of Australia this morning, which saw eight uncapped players named and the return of Danny Care and Billy Vunipola.

Jones said: “I'm not pleased with how we performed, but I'm pleased with the intent of what we tried to do and it's great preparation for Australia.

“No one is happy about the result but, again, we look at it in the light of what we're trying to do.

“There's a contextual situation here, we're trying to build a new team, play a different way, a style that suits that players and there are going to be some ups and downs.

“I don't know, if we would have played a normal England game, what the score would have been but that's not what we wanted out of the game.”

Jones will be hoping he can find the tools to help his side improve, much like you could help improve your betting skills at Point Spread for this summer's bumper sporting calendar.

Today was @GeorgeKruis' final game before retirement.

Thanks for everything George and all the best for the future 🌹 pic.twitter.com/P7qkjcrSoY

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 19, 2022

The Australian was also gracious about George Kruis' backheeled conversion, coming in the middle of three conversions and six points for the former Saracens lock in his final game of professional rugby.

“It's about the spirit of rugby and it's great for the spirit of rugby. George Kruis is a guy who didn't carry the ball much and he's had a great farewell. So fantastic, I love it,” Jones said.

He will be hoping for a marked improvement from his side when their campaign down under begins on Saturday 2nd July, as he hopes to repeat the series win he achieved six years ago with England.