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28th February 2022
04:55pm GMT
"I don’t look at it that way. These ex-players, they become so clever when they start talking in the media and they haven’t answered everything. I think that’s quite disrespectful... I wouldn’t engage in that conversation."It would be interesting, then, to hear Jones' take on the comments of Heaslip and Ferris, in particular, on how he is trying to craft a winning side for the 2023 World Cup.
"Wales have done us a massive favour," Heaslip declared. "They’ve exposed a lot of weaknesses in the English side. "I can’t quite figure it out, it looks like they are trying to come away from a power game that has served them quite well. I don’t know if they have the skillset to develop [a new game-plan]. "We’ll have to ask Eddie that, and we’ll probably get, 'It’s all good mate', or something like that. "I don’t think the players know the direction they are been given because they look a little bit rudderless on that field.... Players like Dombrandt stood out and Marcus Smith showed he’s up to that level, but Ireland will look at that and go, 'Let’s just mark the life out of him, they’ll give us space on the edges'."Warming to Heaslip's topic, Ferris said England's lineout, maul and attack was lacking. "Take Marcus Smith out of it, everybody else was pretty average," he said. "I've had texts from English friends saying, 'You boys are going to give us a pasting'... I'm hoping that England turn up, because if they play like that, Ireland will win. Simple." Related links:
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