England’s Australian coach Eddie Jones has warned his team to expect “abusive crowds” during their three Test tour Down Under in July.
Jones is under pressure after England finished fifth in the Six Nations and as per usual delivered some eye-catching quotes after naming his squad on Monday.
It is England’s first tour of Australia since Jones masterminded a 3-0 clean sweep of Michael Cheika’s Wallabies in 2016.
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“For Australians, it’s the biggest tour,” Jones said.
“I’m sure it’ll be fun. It is completely different conditions, really hard flat tracks, abusive crowds. The Australians are in the face. The media are going to be in our face.
“They are aggressive. It is a really aggressive environment. You can learn so much about your players and your squad on those tours, and we’ve missed that.”
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The Wallabies haven’t beaten England since the 2015 Rugby World Cup and were knocked out of the 2019 tournament in the quarter finals by the eventual runners-up.
But the bookmakers have installed Australia as strong favourites for the series opener in Perth on July 2.
“I think they’ve sold out every game. It’s going to be huge,” Jones said.
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“It’s going to be fantastic for rugby. It’s going to be fantastic for our squad. Australia tour, three Tests, sellout crowd, 65,000 people in Perth, 55,000 in Brisbane, 45,000 in Sydney. You can’t think of a better experience against a good Australian team.”
England’s touring party have been forced to travel on separate flights because of a lack of business class seats.
A makeshift England side was thrashed 52-21 by the Barbarians at the weekend but both Jones and Rennie dismissed the significance of that result.
“We’ve gotta go after them,” Jones said.
“We’ve got a whole intention of going after them. Davie Rennie’s sides traditionally want to play on the front foot, so it’s going to be who wins the front foot.
“They’re a good team. Their Super Rugby sides have been doing better. They’re packed full of Brumbies, which is my old club, so there’s some nice stories out there.”
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