Eddie Jones believes there was always the "strong" possibility England would clean sweep Australia 3-0 but has made it clear there is plenty of work still to be done if his side is serious about achieving the ultimate goal of becoming the best international team in the world.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jones has conquered in Australia before, however his latest masterstroke will be remembered for a long time, not just for the result, but the overall context.
England were given little chance to pop Australia's World Cup bubble of self-confidence but from the moment he landed in Australia Jones has talked the talk and it has paid off in a big way, making a few experts look silly along the way too.
"I'm the eternal optimist and there was weaknesses in the Australian side that we identified, so we thought we could get them in various areas and we were able to do that to some extent," Jones said. "The possibility of us winning three-nil was very strong."
After knocking over the Wallabies in Brisbane, Jones surprised a few people by quickly putting a lid on the hype and criticising his players' performance.
He was a little warmer after Saturday's 44-40 victory but stressed the importance of not getting carried away and erring from the bigger picture.
"We're pleased with the 3-0 series result but we realise we've got a lot of work to do," Jones said. "If we want to be the No.1 team in the world, which we do, we need greater consistency. To win the end of that game was a superb effort. We weren't at our best, we had a number of players sub-par. It was a fantastic effort from the squad to beat a very good and determined Australian side.
"It's been a pleasure to be in Australia. Being an Australian I'm always grateful for what they've done for me for rugby but certainly it's nice beating them 3-0. Very few sides beat Australia in Australia. The All Blacks do but there aren't too many sides. We've not only beaten Australia, but we've beaten them three-nil. It's a significant achievement but only a small step for us."
As much as Jones has had his differences with the Australian media and fuelled the narrative of an orchestrated campaign to bring about the demise of the tourists, he admitted he'd had a ball in his home country.
"It's all been a bit of fun hasn't it," Jones said. "I think it's been a great tour. It's been fantastic for rugby; we've seen three fantastic games of rugby at this stadium here. It's brought rugby more into the sports landscape in Australia. I'm sure people in England maybe are talking a little bit less about the pound devaluing and more about the value of the England rugby side going up."
Jones also lauded five-eighth Owen Farrell for his remarkable effort with the boot this series.
In game three Farrell kicked nine from 10 attempts on his way to 24 points to take his series tally to 66 points with a strike rate of 88 per cent.
"It's solar-system class his kicking," said Jones of Farrell. "He's an absolutely outstanding goal kicker. We've got to be thankful to Jonny Wilkinson for the work he's done with Owen Farrell and George Ford – he's been superb and Owen's been absolutely terrific on tour. He's kicked well, played well, really good performance."
In the wake of England's players being spotted treating themselves to a few cheeky ice-creams at Coogee McDonald's during the week, Jones said he'd allow his players to have a few treats in the aftermath of their emphatic series win.
"We'll have meetings tomorrow ... drag them out of the ice-cream parlour," Jones said. "When we've finished our ice-creams we'll have some interviews."
