The change in Maro Itoje spotted by Eddie Jones in Lions 2nd Test

Eddie Jones says he noticed a shift in Maro Itoje’s game as the British and Irish Lions beat the Wallabies 34-27 in front of 90,000 fans.

Speaking on the Rugby Unity podcast with host David Pembroke and co-host Ewen McKenzie, Jones helped break down the five-tries-to-three epic, including a nuanced take on Itoje’s performance.

Jones has long been a big fan of course. He fast-tracked Maro Itoje into England’s 2016 Six Nations squad and gave him his debut against Italy.

He had a close eye on his former pupil as the Wallabies pushed him to the limit.

“The Wallabies are definitely on the improve, and that was a really good performance, but there’s still that gap in the tactical discipline… just keep doing it.”

Fixture

British & Irish Lions

Australia

22 - 12

Full-time

British & Irish Lions

All Stats and Data

Jones was impressed by how well the Wallabies played, with no little thanks to the hard carrying of Rob Valetini and Will Skelton.

“They were able to win their ruck ball easy because they were carrying close and tight and with power,” Jones said. “Then they took the contest out of the lineout – won it at the front, won it at the back.”

Jones also picked up how the Wallabies’ tactics had impacted Maro Itoje, whom the Australian coached for years during his stint with England. To Jones’ mind, how the Lions skipper dealt with the situation spoke to his maturity as a player.

“You could see Maro [Itoje] getting slightly agitated, and in fact he gave away two penalties in the first 25 minutes because he couldn’t get into the game. He had to try to force a penalty.

“But to his great credit, Maro, like when he was first in Test rugby, he’d go and give another two or three penalties away because he wanted to get in the game. But he pulled himself back. You could see at the next lineout after the second penalty he gave, he jumped across but he didn’t make a contest.

“He’s matured as a player, which was a real wrap for him, and I thought his captaincy looked to be pretty good.”

Jones believes the Wallabies should have put the Lions to the sword in the second half.

“Well, I think in the first three possessions of the second half, the Wallabies turned over,” Jones said. “When they had that lead at half-time, they had the chance in the first 10 minutes of the second half to really put the sword to the Lions.

“If they get the next score, like a try in that next 10 minutes, then the game’s a difficult game for the Lions; they’re really chasing their tails. But they weren’t able to.

“They just didn’t have that consistency and that focus and that discipline – the tactical discipline of just keep doing the simple stuff. The simple stuff’s the hard stuff. That’s the difference between the really good teams and the teams underneath that.”

The 65-year-old current Japan head coach also noted that the captains frequently approaching the referee was getting on his goat and was a trend that needs to end.

“I didn’t like in the game how we had the captains going up to the referee. I think that’s a look we want to get out of rugby,” Jones said.

“The TMO’s brought that in because they’re all saying, ‘Let’s have a look, can you have a look at that?’ And the coaches – we all do it – we’re yelling to the captains, ‘Go and talk to him, tell him you saw this, tell him you saw that.’

“I think that’s something we want to get out of the game because it’s not a good look, and it hasn’t been a part of rugby. Part of the virtue of our game is that we do have a respectful game, and I think we want to keep that in. But I thought he [Andrea Piardi] did a great job.”

Jones also praised Schmidt’s tactical changes at and just after halftime.

“I thought the changes Joe made at halftime were really proactive and aggressive, which was in line with their whole strategy in the game. I think putting the two props on was good.

“Valentini obviously has got a calf problem and he probably could not go any further than that. I think Skelton might have been the same, I have got no idea, but just watching him come off I think he might have been feeling his calf at that stage. That is why he went to the 47th minute.

“I thought [Carlo] Tizzano, when he came on, had a real impact. He was at the breakdown, he was aggressive, he was putting pressure on them. He was pretty useful.”