England coach Eddie Jones is hoping his side can emulate Arsenal’s fast starts when the autumn internationals get underway next month.
The Gunners find themselves top of the Premier League following their best start to a season since 1903.
And Jones, who is part of a coaching group holding regular video calls with Mikel Arteta, wants his squad to adopt Arsenal’s bright opening to their games this season ahead of their quartet of November Tests.
“They’re fast out of the blocks… every game,” he said. “They play with energy and put the opposition on the back foot.”
As well as Arteta and Jones, their coaching super group also includes Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and NBA hall of famer George Karl, a group which the Australian jokingly likened to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
“We just share stories and share each others’ problems and come up with ideas to take coaches forward,” said Jones, who singled out Arteta for praise after he joined England’s coaching camp ahead of the last set of autumn internationals.
“We had a really good chat. He’s a super bright, young coach. He’s a brilliant guy. He understands how young people communication… reinforcing how important imagery is.”
England’s autumn campaign begins against Argentina on November 5 before Tests against Japan, New Zealand and South Africa over four back-to-back weekends.
Going into the training camp in Jersey, which gets underway on Monday with a 36-man squad, Jones has added to his coaching set-up with the arrival of Danny Kerry.
Kerry guided Britain’s women’s hockey team to Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics back in 2016 and has been brought in as a training coordinator.
“He’s a student of coaching… and we need to be the best coaching team in the world,” said Jones. “Coaches are like cows. Sometimes you need to ring the bell and bring them back into the paddock. That’s his job. He’s going to be a huge bonus for us.”
Kerry’s arrival comes amid the latest reported exit from Jones’ coaching set-up with defence coach Anthony Seibold reportedly on his way back to rugby league following the autumn and less than a year before the World Cup.
Seibold refused to be drawn on speculation regarding Seibold but said: “All I know is that he’s coaching in November. He’s flown in this morning. He’s on the road catching up with all the players. He’s coaching in November which is all I need to worry about. He’s very important for November.”
