Rugby World Cup 2019: Jones insists England can still improve despite impressive Australia victory

Eddie Jones insists England are still capable of improvement despite earning an impressive 40-16 win over Australia in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

England will face New Zealand or Ireland in the last four next weekend after they scored four tries to the Wallabies’ one in Oita on Saturday.

Head coach Jones recognised Australia had made the stronger start to the encounter but was impressed with how his players came through.

“The good news for us is we can still improve,” he said after the match. “We weren’t absolutely at our best. Australia started the game fast, played superbly for the first 20 and we had to hang in there.

“We hung in there, got a bit of momentum back and got the points when we needed. I’m so pleased for the players, they have worked hard to get this result. What a great crowd, fantastic.

“We are happy to play anyone now but obviously I’ve got a soft spot for New Zealand. I’d love to play New Zealand in the semi-final, it would be a great challenge for us, we’d be looking forward to it.”

Jonny May scored two tries in the space of four first-half minutes, while Kyle Sinckler and Anthony Watson dotted down after England went into the interval with a 17-9 lead.

“Scott Wisemantel has done a great job with getting more options in our attack,” added Jones.

“Maybe at the start of the four years here we were a little bit too one dimensional but now we have more options, he’s done a great job in that area.”

#RWC2019 #ENGvAUS #RWCOita pic.twitter.com/o6v1ul5mEl

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) 19 October 2019

Captain Owen Farrell, who contributed 20 points off the tee, also praised Australia for the way they approached the game.

He said: “I thought Australia made that a brilliant game. They attacked throughout, from minute one to 80.

“Our boys did well in defence and then managed to get some field position off the back of it. We know that when we get some field position we can be pretty dangerous.

“My kicking was a lot better than last time!”

On England’s second-half approach, as the forwards and kicking game played more of a role to tighten the match up, Farrell added: “We did what was needed.

“We had the lead and obviously Australia were throwing everything at us again. We wanted to play the game at our pace, not theirs, and thankfully we did that in the second half.

“The support has been brilliant. It’s a massive privilege to play for England and hopefully you see that when we play. It’s brilliant to have them behind us.”

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