Jones claims England’s poor Six Nations start down to drop in ‘arousal level’

Eddie Jones has put England’s substandard start to the Six Nations down to a problem with their “arousal level” and admitted his under-fire captain, Owen Farrell, is one of a number of players struggling for form.

While those may sound like the words of a Viagra salesman, Jones points to a scientific study into the Austrian football team RB Salzburg to back up his claim that playing behind closed doors has a negative impact on aggression. The research shows that there were almost 20% fewer “emotional” incidents in matches in empty stadiums compared to in front of crowds.

Jones also made the frank admission that Farrell – renowned for his aggressive edge – has been below par in the disappointing defeat by Scotland and the routine win over Italy but said his captain was far from the only one.

Jones does not have an immediate solution – saying simple rabble-rousing no longer works in the modern game – but believes the problem to be all the more acute in rugby where a certain level of aggression is a prerequisite. “The arousal level is the thing we are looking at the most,” said Jones, an Umbro ambassador. “Games have tended to be less aggressive generally in rugby and I think it has been the same in football. There’s a bit of research that shows the arousal level of players has dropped and therefore the type of play or the type of behaviour has been less aggressive.

“In our sport that is a particularly important area so we have to investigate that. If you look at our first performance against Scotland we lacked our normal aggression, we lacked our normal go-at-them game. We were a little bit better against Italy but still not where we need to be. If I look at Liverpool, who are an aggressive team, they are really at their best when they are pressing hard and they attack hard, their whole crowd is aggressive. Is that one of the reasons why they have dropped off?”

In Farrell’s case, a move from fly-half to inside-centre failed to lift his performance significantly against Italy. The former full-back Mike Brown and the World Cup winning scrum-half Matt Dawson are among those to question whether he warrants a place in the team. When asked if Farrell was not at his best, Jones said: “That’s probably a fair comment. There have been very few players in our team who have been at their best. I think Owen is one of those, he knows that, he’s working very hard to get his game back to the standard that he wants and we want and there’s no doubt he’ll get back there.”

Meanwhile, Jones has given his backing to plans to extend the 2023 World Cup by a week despite fierce opposition from the Rugby Football Union. The tournament in France may be extended to run over seven weeks on player welfare grounds to ensure a minimum of five days between matches for all teams. The RFU has reacted angrily on the basis the proposal has been sprung upon them but Jones is in favour of the plan.

In 2015 Jones’s Japan faced Scotland four days after their famous win over South Africa and defeat in effect cost them a quarter-final place. “Anything we can do to make it fair and equitable amongst the teams is good,” he said. “Anything that we can do to make it better in terms of player welfare is good. I know when we played South Africa in 2015 it was a tough turnaround and I don’t think it is fair for some teams to do that and not others.”

Jones, however, may end up losing a week’s access to his players in the buildup to the World Cup as a result. As part of negotiations over long-term changes to Premiership promotion and relegation, the RFU is pushing for more access in the lead-up to France 2023 and it is understood the union wants the Premiership final to be in mid-May that year. But if the tournament is a week longer, it is likely England’s preparations would begin a week later.

A World Rugby statement read: “[Our] No 1 priority is player welfare and, in partnership with the France 2023 organising committee and with the full support of International Rugby Players, we have been collaboratively exploring options that will make Rugby World Cup 2023 the best it can be for players and their recovery.”

Eddie Jones is an Umbro ambassador. For more information visit: www.umbro.co.uk/rugby