Alastair Cook’s England visit before Italy game begs cricket score gags

Italy will be in trouble if England score as many tries as they have had high-profile touchline guests watch them train lately. Chelsea’s Antonio Conte and the erstwhile Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew have been among the spectators in Bagshot this week and on Friday it was the turn of Alastair Cook. Should Eddie Jones’s team rack up a cricket score at Twickenham, their inspiration will not be hard to pinpoint.

Cook is also a keen rugby supporter who follows Northampton Saints and once persuaded England’s oval-ball captain, Dylan Hartley, to pop down and chat with some regulars in his local pub. The pair duly struck up a friendship and Jones, a fervent cricket fan, was equally delighted to welcome the prolific opening batsman into England’s Bagshot camp for a convivial lunch with his squad.

In common with Conte and Pardew, Cook will have instantly recognised the relaxed, upbeat vibe of a consistent winning team with no desire to rest on their laurels. During last week’s fallow week in London a conscious decision was made to ratchet up the intensity of their preparations and Jones’s starting XV reinforces the sense of a team determined to raise the bar again on Sunday.

Into the run-on team have come the centre Ben Te’o, winger Jonny May, scrum-half Danny Care and flanker James Haskell, with Jack Nowell, Ben Youngs and Jack Clifford moving to the bench and Jonathan Joseph missing out altogether. Rather than mess with the 10-12 axis of George Ford and Owen Farrell, however, Te’o will wear 13 with Elliot Daly again on the wing and Henry Slade held back for the final stages when Daly will probably shift across to full-back.

For students of England’s backline permutations under Jones it helps to understand the Australian is deliberately seeking to identify three players in each specialist position prior to the 2019 Rugby World Cup. At 13 the favoured trio are currently Joseph, Daly and Te’o while, as things stand, Farrell, Te’o and Slade are the leading alternatives at 12.

Nowell may also enter the outside centre reckoning at a later date but, against the Azzurri, Jones is looking for express pace on the wide outside and to test a Farrell-Te’o centre combination that, mentally and physically, will take few prisoners. Any temptation, on the occasion of Farrell’s 50th cap, to throw the Saracen the 10 jersey and the captain’s armband, or either of them, has been resisted, although it will surely happen one day.

Having used the word “Finishers” rather than “Replacements” on the official Rugby Football Union teamsheet, Jones was also particularly keen to expand on his penchant for utilising particular players at specific moments in a contest. The head coach does not see a rugby match as having four quarters but, rather, three contrasting segments – a start, a middle and an end.

“Physiologically, psychologically and tactically they are different,” said Jones. “Some players have attributes that are much better suited to the first part of the game. The requirement for us is to see how we get a maximum 80 minutes out of each position and keep the opposition under so much pressure they can’t get away from us.”

The last bit is particularly ominous for Italy, who also have the misfortune of running into a home team fresh from a fortnight of bespoke preparation. Avoiding the undignified descent suffered by Leicester this season has been another motivation.

“The message to us was you don’t get ruthless after a bad loss – you get ruthless while you’re winning,” stressed Hartley. “Our message was, ‘Let’s get ruthless now, let’s not take our foot off the gas and let’s train harder because who else will be training as hard as us?’”

It was equally instructive to hear the England captain reveal Jones took him aside to suggest the hooker might yet keep the role for longer than some imagine. As a former hooker himself, the Australian told him his prime years could still be ahead of him if he manages to keep his deputy Jamie George at bay. “I’ve had a conversation with Eddie and he’s made it very clear what I can achieve within the team,” said Hartley.

Given Jones hauled Hartley off after 46 minutes in Cardiff, there is clearly some cunning psychology going on here, although the head coach – “Dylan can’t play until he is 50” – accepts that Hartley will never equal Cook’s haul of 140 Tests. As for George, the long wait for a Six Nations start is a source of increasing impatience. “I’d be disappointed if he wasn’t disappointed,” said Jones with a shrug. “In fact, if he wasn’t disappointed he wouldn’t be in the squad. There will be a time when Jamie gets the spot but at the moment Dylan is our captain and the first pick on the teamsheet.”

Pausing only to add that he had ordered his winger May to shave on Thursday evening – “He had a thick beard and it made him look slow ... he’s quick now” – Jones is less interested in the volume of points his side amass than the overall control they exert on an Italian side who are still without a win at Twickenham: “We want to play with real pressure and intent and every time Italy have the ball we want them to feel they don’t want it.

“When I announced the squad to the players I said to them: ‘There will be guys left out of this squad that will be good enough to play for the Lions.’ That’s how strong it is.” And, as a Chelsea fan, would Jones fancy taking over if Conte ever leaves Stamford Bridge ? “I’d love to have a go but I couldn’t because I don’t know much about football.” Cue an instant retort from one mischievous wag: “That never stopped Clive Woodward.”