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Eddie jones is a well known cricket fan, but the England rugby coach has been looking for Premier League soccer champions Liverpool on a quest to improve their Six Nations kings.
England posted two group-two victories at the Fall Nations Cup with an 18-7 win against Ireland on Saturday.
That victory saw Jonny May grab two tries, with the second from the England wing, a staggering length of field score, up there with the best seen at Twickenham.
But that remarkable effort began when an Ireland missed shot was picked up by blocking Maro Itoje before the ball reached wing May.
Going from defense to attack, or transition, is a skill Jones is trying to perfect with England after studying Liverpool’s methods.
Jones has even met with Liverpool analyst Ian Graham in an attempt to add some Anfield nous to his Red Rose setup.
“The transitional parts are very important,” said Jones, who is currently reading ‘Trust Us,’ a book about Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s time in Merseyside.
“It’s quite an exciting area for us and it’s nice to see that attempt where we quickly shift the ball outwards and then it was a leg race. There aren’t too many people in the world who can beat Jonny in a leg race.” .
“Liverpool, and I think most football teams, are very advanced in the ability to measure the movement of players off the ball.
“So we are starting to do some measurements. We are now in kindergarten, while Liverpool is doing his PhD at Oxford.”
May has now scored 31 attempts in 59 Tests for England, placing him second on their list of all-time attempt scorers alongside Ben Cohen and Will Greenwood.
But former England winger Rory Underwood, a mainstay from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, remains in the lead with 49 attempts in 85 tests.
But with May, like Underwood, scoring at the rate of one try every two appearances in England, Jones believes the 30-year-old should surpass the all-time record of his predecessor in England.
“I don’t see why he can’t reach that total,” said Jones, whose team will complete their Nations Cup Group B program in Wales at Llanelli.
“He’s just going to get better and better. I think he’ll be in his prime when he’s 32, 33 years old.
“He’s 30 now, so there’s no reason why he can’t keep scoring shots and being one of our biggest players.”
The veteran Australian coach, previously in charge of his native Wallabies and Japan, has seen many wings, but believes May is a special talent.
“He is an incredible rugby player. What I have seen in that boy in the time that I was lucky enough to coach him has been extraordinary,” said Jones, who recently celebrated his fifth anniversary in charge of England.
“I’ve never seen a more professional player. He keeps getting better, he gets faster, stronger, more elusive and his work off the ball is exceptional. He is always looking for ways to be faster.”
