Jones says England's series win over Australia was 'tougher' than 2016

Eddie Jones claims England’s 2-1 series win over bitter rivals Australia was ‘tougher’ than whitewash against Wallabies in 2016 – and insists his side had to ‘fight like anything’ to seal 21-17 victory

  • England earned a crucial Test victory in Australia after winning the third clash
  • Freddie Steward and Marcus Smith scored superb tries for the tourists in Sydney
  • Eddie Jones believers Saturday’s win was ‘tougher’ than their victory in 2016
  • The Red and Whites famously whitewashed hosts Australia 3-0 six years ago 

England head coach Eddie Jones has claimed the series win over Australia is ‘tougher’ than the win against the Wallabies in 2016. 

England beat hosts Australia 21-17 in the third test on Saturday to round off a 2-1 series victory. 

England earned a heroic series victory over Australia after winning the decisive Test in Sydney

Head coach Eddie Jones has claimed the win over Australia was tougher than the one in 2016

Jones said: ‘This was tougher than 2016. We had to fight like anything today, they were always going to throw it around so we had to defend well.’

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England opened this year’s series with a 30-28 defeat to the Wallabies, who were down to 14 players.

But Jones’ side got on level terms in the series as they beat the hosts 25-17 in second Test in Brisbane.

Saturday’s decider saw England start slowly as they fell behind 10-3. On the stroke of half-time, Freddie Steward ensured Jones’ side went into the break with an 11-10 lead. 

England beat Australia 44-40 in final Test to seal a 3-0 series whitewash in Sydney in 2016 

Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell also shone as England fought off a late fightback from the hosts. 

Jones heaped praise on the leadership group and emphasised the importance of the result ahead of next year’s World Cup.  

‘When you fight like that and win a game like that, it’s a real achievement but all the credit goes to the leadership group,’ he said.

‘The result is always important but the development of the team, especially now when we’re in the last 12 months of this World Cup cycle, it was crucial we got it right.’




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