Danny Care warns England fans that Red Rose are not there to entertain against Australia – only to win
DANNY CARE warned Twickenham punters that England are not there to entertain in Saturday’s box-office Aussie clash.
Fans were angry at paying up to £110 to see the lifeless Red Rose bore their way to victory over Argentina.
And despite top-priced tickets for the clash against Australia costing a whopping £127, Care would happily settle for another ‘grindathon’.
The England scrum-half, 30, said: “We’re not there to entertain.
“We’re there to get the job done and win matches and with that, hopefully, we will play some good rugby and get the fans excited.
“The fans have been brilliant and obviously want to see us score a load of tries.
“But I’m sure they’d prefer us to win the game than lose it.
“People who don’t know much about the international game find it easy to criticise. We got the win and hopefully it’ll be the first of three.
“There is always a buzz when you play Australia, especially at Twickenham. It will be a hell of a game.”
Certainly the last four Tests against the Wallabies have been epic wins for Eddie Jones’ side.
And this is a fixture that brings out the mischievous best in England’s Aussie head coach.
Jones got stuck into his mate Michael Cheika last year and fired some early shots by claiming they scrummaged illegally.
But this time, ex-Wallabies boss Jones is lying low in what feels like a Cold War ready to erupt between him and Cheika, who is 4-0 down in the pair’s managerial rivalry.
Killing Cheika with kindness, Jones said: “Knowing Cheik, he’ll have been hatching a plan immediately since the last game.
“He’s rebuilt that side twice now which is a fair job.
“I know Australia are going to bring their best and we’re going to have to find a way to win. We won’t have any excuses.”
And while Cheika is also under pressure to turn on the style for a nation regularly hammered by New Zealand and England since the World Cup, Jones will take another scrappy win.
The Red Rose chief, who labelled last Saturday’s 21-8 win over the Pumas a ‘grindathon’, added: “I don’t mind winning dirty and to me rugby is a game that can be played beautifully badly or beautifully well.
“It’s like when you bat — sometimes you score a beautiful 100. Sometimes you score a terrible 70, but that terrible 70 might save or win you a Test match.
“As I said to the players last night, to win the World Cup you’ve got to win seven games in a row. And history shows that for one of those games you can’t be at your very best.
“I’m proud of the players that they found a way. That’s how you win a World Cup and ultimately that’s what we want to do.”
England stars OWEN FARRELL and MARO ITOJE have been nominated for World Rugby’s Player of the Year award after starring for the Lions.
All Blacks pair Rieko Ioane and Beauden Barrett and Australia’s Israel Folau complete the shortlist.
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