England coach Eddie Jones was coy on how momentous England’s win over the All Blacks was, saying his side will have to play better in the final.
The 2003 Rugby World Cup champions were sensational in the 12-point win over the tournament favourites and were unlucky not to score more.
While Jones was obviously pleased with his side, he was reluctant to comment on where this win stands in terms of England’s greatest victories.
"Just another week, mate. We’re here for another week. We’re not historians, we don’t know - but we know we can play better next week. We’re going to have to, whoever we play.
“We’re looking forward to Wales and South Africa playing a three-all draw, so they have to play extra time and it's still three-all - and they have to play more extra time. That’s the prediction,” Jones commented.
Jones believed that England had a mental advantage going into the game, as they were mentally preparing to come up against the All Blacks in the World Cup for a long time.
"We’ve had two-and-a-half years to prepare for it. They had a week to prepare. We’ve been unconsciously preparing for this game.
“When you ingrain habits in your players, they are easier to sustain and I think we saw some great habits from our players tonight,” Jones said.
The Australian gave plenty of praise to New Zealand’s head coach Steve Hansen, whose last game in charge of the All Blacks will take place in the bronze final.
“I just saw him, we’ll catch up and have a drink. He’s a great coach. He was coaching the Crusaders and I was coaching the Brumbies in '97; we’ve had some wins, we’ve had some losses.
“He’ll go down as one of the great All Blacks' coaches. He’s going to be missed from the game. He’s a great rugby man,” Jones said.
England will now go on to face either Wales or South Africa in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final next weekend in Yokohama.
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