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Rugby World Cup semi-finals rocked by ugly 'spying' claims

Australian Associated Press

England coach Eddie Jones believes his squad's training session at the Rugby World Cup on Tuesday was filmed by someone in a nearby apartment block.

Jones didn't explicitly accuse semi-final opponent New Zealand of spying - "it might have been a Japanese fan, I don't care," he said - and added that the viewer wouldn't have learnt anything new.

"You just don't need to do it anymore," Jones said.

"You can see everything. You can watch everyone's training on YouTube. There's no value in doing that sort of thing, absolutely zero.

"Everyone knows what everyone does - there are no surprises in world rugby anymore. That's the great thing about the game, you just have to be good enough on the day."

England players, pictured here in action at a training session at the Rugby World Cup.
England players in action at a training session. (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)

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Jones ramps up the mind games

One of the most experienced coaches in world rugby, Jones is known for throwing barbs ahead of big games and this may be an attempt to divert the pressure off his England players and onto the All Blacks.

"Put up your hand if you think we can win," he said to reporters, before adding: "There you go, so no one. No one thinks we can win.

"There are 120 million Japanese people out there whose second team are the All Blacks. So there's no pressure on us.

"We've just got to have a great week, enjoy it, relax. Train hard and enjoy this great opportunity we've got.

Eddie Jones, pictured here speaking to the media at the Rugby World Cup.
Eddie Jones speaks to the media. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

"Whereas (the All Blacks) have got to be thinking about how they're looking for their third (consecutive) World Cup and so that brings some pressure."

Jones added that the "busiest bloke in Tokyo this week" will be Gilbert Enoka, New Zealand's mental skills coach.

"They have to deal with all this pressure of winning the World Cup three times (in a row) and it is potentially the last game for their greatest coach ... they will be thinking about those things," Jones said.

"Those thoughts go through your head.

“It is always harder to defend a World Cup and they will be thinking about that and therefore there is pressure."