Rugby union team inspired by 'Bodyline'
England coach Eddie Jones has revealed he showed his players footage of the "Bodyline" tour of the 1930s before their successful trip Down Under
ESPNcricinfo staff
12-Aug-2016
Bill Woodfull ducks a ball from Harold Larwood • Getty Images
Eddie Jones, the Australian coach of England's rugby union team, has revealed he showed his players footage of the "Bodyline" tour of the 1930s before their successful trip Down Under earlier this year.
Jones oversaw England's 3-0 win over the Wallabies - their first ever tour success in Australia - and was subsequently invited to a training session at Lord's before the first Test against Pakistan. He was also in attendance for the fourth Test at The Oval, this time as a spectator.
With England's cricketers also being coached by an Australian in Trevor Bayliss, the Ashes tour of 2017-18 will have an extra layer of intrigue. England's success in the 1932-33 series nearly led to a diplomatic incident over their use of "leg-theory" bowling but Jones, speaking to the ECB's website, said it was a good example of how to tackle Australia head on in their own conditions.
"We actually got a lesson from Bodyline. [Harold] Larwood and [Douglas] Jardine did something different," Jones said.
"They took it away from the Aussies and what we tried to do in the rugby was take something away from them. Being Australian, I know how much they like to get on the front foot. What we tried to do right at the start of the tour was to show we wanted to take the front-foot position, in terms of the way we portrayed ourselves or the way we spoke in the media. We wanted to make the running in the series."
Jones and his assistant, Steve Borthwick, had invited England's management team of Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Andrew Strauss to dinner before the rugby union tour and there could well be further brainstorming sessions before the next Ashes. England currently hold the urn but have lost 5-0 on two of their last three tours to Australia.
Jones is also a keen cricketer and said he would be hoping to watch some of the series in his homeland. "There is nothing like an Ashes series in Australia," he said. "That's the epitome of the rivalry between Australia and England so, hopefully, I'll get down there and have a look at it."