Australia Test is ‘perfect practice for the World Cup’, says Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones has risked provoking fury among England supporters by describing tomorrow’s do-or-die second Test with Australia as practice for the World Cup and admitting “everything is geared” towards next year’s tournament.

Jones has handed debuts to Guy Porter and Tommy Freeman, as well as a first start to Jack van Poortvliet, and though the England head coach is under increasing pressure to deliver results he and the captain, Courtney Lawes, have claimed a good performance in Brisbane is more important than gaining victory.

Porter, who was born in England but raised in Australia, comes into the side at outside-centre to add “punch”, with Joe Marchant dropped, while the 21-year-olds Freeman and Van Poortvliet replace Joe Cokanasiga on the left wing and Danny Care at scrum-half respectively. It means Jones’s backline contains five players with a combined 23 caps for a match in which England are seeking to avoid a series defeat and a fifth straight loss this year, in their seventh Test.

Defeat would also mean England matching their dismal run of form in 2018 – ended by a narrow victory over South Africa having already lost the series – but Jones said: “Everything is geared towards the World Cup. Always has been and always will be. But that doesn’t mean you don’t treat this game with the utmost respect.

“This game is the perfect practice for the World Cup and our focus is putting on our best performance. It’s a pressure game, isn’t it? Once you get to the quarter-final of the World Cup, they are all pressure games so it’s great practice for us. We’ve got 12 months to the World Cup so we’re developing a team to win the World Cup. But of course we are preparing for this game and taking this game with the utmost importance.”