Jones reveals thoughts on Boks' World Cup chances
REACTION: England coach Eddie Jones believes the Springboks are serious contenders for the World Cup in 2019.
After two poor seasons under former coach Allister Coetzee, the Boks restored some hope ahead of next year’s event in Japan by recording a 2-1 series victory under new coach Rassie Erasmus.
A lot of improvement is still needed ahead of that tournament, but Jones has been impressed by what he has seen while in South Africa.
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“One hundred percent,” Jones said when he was asked if the Boks can win the World Cup.
“I would have said that six months ago. You’ve got bloody good young players here and the side was always going to come together.
“It is incredible the depth of talent you got here and even though you got a lot of players overseas, you still got good young players coming through and I think Rassie has done a good job of getting some wins for the side early.
“You can see a big difference between the Springboks now and the Springboks six months ago. They work harder off the ball.
“They got a strong maul, which is a traditional strength of South African rugby and then when the opportunity comes they got the ability to spread the ball into space and they got Willie le Roux on the outside, who makes great decisions.
“There are some really good gains for the team and they will continue to get stronger.”
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
