Another article from The Times, this time on Lawes challenging the way things have been previously done by Jones/Farrell.
Let’s hope the penny is finally beginning to drop.
Let’s hope senior players like Lawes have spoken out and demanded a change of atmosphere in the camp.
A change of cliques and hierarchy.
Most on here have already condemned this Tour.
I’m withholding judgement for a game…or two.
If there is a change in direction in camp….then it’ll be seen out on the pitch over the next 3 games.
Times Article:
It is a role Lawes never actively sought but cherishes, and he believes Jones selecting him as captain reveals how the coach and the team have changed. Under Lawes’ recent leadership he and prop Ellis Genge have actively tried to make the England set-up a more relaxing and welcoming environment, and they have asked Jones and his coaches to pressurise them less. They believed in previous years under Jones that England were too tense, and he demanded too much of them.
But Lawes, who will start at blind-side flanker in the first Test, noted how that has altered since the last series in Australia in 2016, when England won 3-0.
“I certainly wouldn’t be skipper if he [Jones] was still the same coming into this tour,” Lawes said. “We’ve made a lot of changes and we think they’ll be for the better.
“We’re trying to find that balance between what we had then in 2016, which was massive but was hard to maintain, and what we had in 2019 when we got to the final of the World Cup. We want to find that sweet spot.
“Eddie wants to challenge himself. If I’m honest, I’m probably skipper because I think more differently to him and I’m willing to challenge him as a leader. I think that’s why he’s kept me on. I’ve made a lot of the lads comfortable around the team and that’s the team environment we want.
“I’m more than willing to essentially get a feel of what the team needs, and then the coaches will have a feeling for what the team needs, and then we’ll come to a compromise from there, instead of it all being one way in terms of we just do what the coaches say.
“The game’s developing and the leadership team and the coaching team with Eddie think that’s the best way to be. I wasn’t in the leadership team in 2016 or until 2020 really, although I had the experience. I just got the opportunity to step up. Eddie was changing his thinking; he changed his leadership team and I was in it. I took the opportunity.
“I’m an old geezer now and don’t mind saying what’s on my mind. I think he liked that approach.”
Lawes has had no problems with Farrell, who Jones revealed was “very unhappy” to lose the captaincy.
“I’ve been working very closely with Owen,” he added. “That first conversation was absolutely fine, as I knew it would be. If I’m honest, I expected him to get the role back and I was more than willing to because we work so well together.
“We’re almost polar opposite but in a good way. We find a pretty good balance and we’ll be keeping that; it’s just that I keep the armband this time and we’ll see what happens going forward.”
On the opening Test against Australia, Lawes said: “We’re confident going into the game tomorrow. We’ve got a great team out and had a very good training week. We’re not looking for anything less than a win.
“I don’t think you can underestimate how much it means for the Australia team to play here and win.
“We know it will be one hell of a contest.”
England’s record against Australia under Jones presently stands at 8-0, and lock Jonny Hill hopes the Wallabies have a mental burden to overcome as a result.
“‘For us, it’s about starting fast and it’s only going to be in their heads, not ours,” said Hill, who partners Maro Itoje at lock. “If we start fast, they might start thinking, ‘No 9 is on the way’.”
Australia captain Michael Hooper is desperate for his Wallabies to right the wrongs of their recent run against England.
“History has not been in favour for quite some time against the English for some years now and we are dead keen to rip in now,” the open-side flanker said.
“It is motivation to win and turn the ledger. We have got three games at home to do it while we play these fellows like this.
“It is a top rivalry. Having the Ashes at the back end of last year and the start of this year, the whole of the Australian population gets around it whether they are here or over in England. It is bragging rights, big for the fans and big for us. It is a big occasion for both teams, there is a bit of history and two teams rolling into a World Cup next year, that’s exciting.
“I don’t think there are too many guys in our team that were there in 2016 but if they weren’t I am sure they were watching that with a keen eye, wanting to be part of it. Now we get our opportunity six years later, we have just got to go out there and do it.
“We know in games of this sort of magnitude and the intensity of the games it is going to go back and forth a bit and we have just got to stay in the fight, throw punches and absorb and get back on the front foot and keep applying pressure on these guys.”
Australia v England
First Test
Saturday, kick-off: 10.55am
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
I hope some readers are grateful for the posting of these kind of articles.
They always take a bit of time to copy/paste/edit out the Getty photos etc.
If people aren’t bothered, then I won’t waste my time.
Always a Wasp