Japan want 'the sky to fall in' at Twickenham – Jones

Head coach Eddie Jones says Japan are drawing inspiration from Italy, who beat England for the first time in March, as the Brave Blossoms attempt to heap pressure back on Steve Borthwick with their own landmark win on Saturday.

Jones was sacked by England in December 2022 after a miserable autumn which ended in a 27-13 Twickenham defeat by South Africa and jeers from the home fans.

The Australian, 66, hopes to cause similar unrest on his return to Allianz Stadium this weekend.

"We're massive underdogs," Jones told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We've got to find a way to disrupt an England side that's looking at New Zealand next week [England play the All Blacks on 21 November] and sometimes may be a little bit distracted.

"Our opportunity is to get in there, cause some havoc, cause some chaos, put off their game, get the crowd booing. Then the sky starts to come in on Twickenham and you never know what can happen.

"We've seen it happen with Italy and other countries."

Japan have lost all six of their previous Test meetings with England, most recently going down 54-19 on their autumn visit two years ago.

However Italy, who won for the first time in 33 attempts earlier this year, and Fiji, who broke their duck with a 30-22 success in 2023, have both secured maiden victories over England during Borthwick's reign.

Jones believes England's players are uniquely susceptible to pressure, given a level of scrutiny which is unprecedented in the rest of the global game.

A run of five successive defeats earlier this year, combined with reports of a rift between players and coaches, raised the stakes for England before Sunday's meeting with Australia.

However, Borthwick's players, who had insisted that the squad remains united, delivered an impressive 45-22 victory to vindicate their coach.

"The noise does get to the team and it can be pretty loud in England," said Jones, for whom Borthwick worked as an assistant during a previous stint with Japan and then with England.

"You've got a lot of newspapers, a lot of media, probably more than any other country in the world. Sometimes that can weigh down on the players and it's the job of the leadership to get the players thinking straight.

"Steve's an outstanding coach and a very intelligent man, and a really good coach. So I've got the highest respect for him."

England back row Henry Pollock scored two tries after replacing the injured Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wing at half-time against Australia, and has been tipped to make only his second start for his country on Saturday.

Having also scored a hat-trick off the bench against Fiji in July, Pollock is averaging a try every 22 minutes in the Nations Championship.

However, Jones believes the 21-year-old's sky-high strike-rate is not the best measure of him as a player.

"I wouldn't look too much into it," he said of Pollock's two scores against Australia.

"Everyone was licking the ice cream on Sunday. They were on the front foot, everyone's lining up to run the ball, there's no pressure in the game.

"He's a fast back rower, he got the ball in space and he's a talented player, you know, there's no doubt about it, but you couldn't read into it any more than that."

Jones is missing his own young star.

Fly-half Ryunosuke Ito was plucked from university rugby by Jones, and made his debut against Italy in July without having ever played a professional match.

Ito scored his own solo try against Australia in August, neatly stepping through the Wallabies defence., external