• England coach Eddie Jones’s had earlier claimed that their training session had been filmed from a nearby Tokyo tower block.
• Jenkins laughed when asked about the spying shenanigans.
Image: /REUTERS
Welsh skills coach Neil Jenkins brushed off the possibility that enemy spies could be eyeing Wales training sessions, saying they would be wasting their time.
“There’s quite a lot of buildings around us watching us train, but I’m not overly concerned about that at the end of the day,” said Jenkins, whose Welsh side take on South Africa on Sunday for a place in the rugby World Cup final.
England coach Eddie Jones’s had earlier claimed that their training session had been filmed from a nearby Tokyo tower block. England, who take on New Zealand in the other semi-final, are believed not to have investigated the filming, with Jones saying: “That’s the fun of the World Cup.”
Jenkins laughed when asked about the spying shenanigans.
“I wouldn’t have a clue, I don’t know, I can’t answer that one for you,” he smiled. “There’s enough analysis that goes on...There might be one or two trick plays up their sleeves or one or two things slightly different come Sunday, but you pretty much know what’s coming and it’s simple: you know what’s coming but can you stop it?”
“The reality is you adapt to what’s in front of you in the game and try to stop it if you can, that’s pretty much how it works.”
Meanwhile, England must abandon thoughts of providing a spectacle when they face New Zealand on Saturday and opt for an effective style that may not be easy on the eyes, former All Blacks flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens has said.
England face the holders at Yokohama hoping to improve their record of seven wins in 41 meetings, and Mehrtens believes Eddie Jones’s men can prevail with a simple plan.
“There’s no rocket science behind this mission. It doesn’t matter how the points come. Don’t get sucked into playing better rugby, play more effective rugby,” Mehrtens who played 70 times for New Zealand, wrote in The Times newspaper.
“How do you do that? You slow them down at the tackle ... you build yourself up for a massive defensive effort to come up fast and smack them in multiple tackles and not let them go forward.
“They will have the ball ... but England, through their line speed must take away the value of their possession ... the better plan has to be to stop them from getting (the ball).”
Mehrtens said England would have to swap fluidity for a tactically sound effort when they have the ball.
“What are England’s comparative strengths? You want to slow up the game. You want to play set piece to set piece. That’s what the All Blacks don’t like,” Mehrtens said.
“Beat them up and smother them. While it may get called ‘smothering’, no one cares if it works ... this is not about providing a spectacle. It is about getting results. England should try to maul a lot; drag them in. I’m not sure Billy Vunipola is at his energetic best at the moment, but the All Blacks would respect the locks, particularly Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes.”