David Pocock is still in Brisbane but England coach Eddie Jones is preparing for the Australian number eight to play in Melbourne on Saturday
Pocock fractured his eye socket in the opening Test against England, ruling him out for up to eight weeks, but Jones said on Monday night he wasn’t ruling Pocock out just yet.
“He’s certainly a good player Pocock, wish him all the best for a speedy recovery, just hope he doesn’t recover in time for Saturday,” he said.
“I don’t know whether he’s going to be in or out.”
Aside from throwing out left-field speculation, Jones heaped the pressure on the Australian lineout on his first media appearance of the week, despite the stats telling a much more even story than Jones has espoused in the wake of their 39-28 win.
“I think their lineout has really been under pressure,” he said.
“Stephen Moore is a seasoned international, he’d be worried about that area of the game.”
Regardless of the final lineup, Jones is expecting an Australian side keen for redemption after a opening loss and has stressed to his side to move on from that first Test.
“The extra pressure’s going to come from ourselves,” he said.
“We’ve got an opportunity on Saturday. So we’ll be as desperate as the Australians, maybe more desperate.”
“When you consider the history of English games in Australia, there’s reason for desperation and it’s good desperation.”
Jones said there would be no complacency in England heading into the critical second match.
“The second Test of a series is always interesting,” he said.
“One team’s confident enough to win, the other team’s desperate to win so ask the bookmakers who’s the favourite.
“All we’re worried about is preparing well, we’ve got a nice settled side, a good week’s preparation.
“We’ve got 32 fit players competing for 23 spots and the Wallabies have got a few things they’ve got to adjust to.”
