Gareth Southgate handed the stage to the player at his side when it came down to dissecting more precisely the advice and guidance offered up by Eddie Jones on Friday night. The England rugby union coach had addressed the nation’s senior football squad back at their team hotel in Hertfordshire, his presentation devoid of PowerPoint slides or whiteboard bullet points. Players have a tendency to drift off on such occasions, staring blankly at the rat‑a‑tat of buzzwords, but the Australian apparently held the room.
“We have taken massive inspiration from his work,” said Ryan Bertrand. “His England team were on a fantastic record run [equalling New Zealand’s 18-game winning streak], so we dug deep to find out what measures he had put in to achieve that sustainable success. Not just temporary success, getting the odd win, but making it sustainable.
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