The coach says that they were watched from "apartment block" near the training ground
Eddie Jones claims England training was spied on at Rugby World Cup
Semi-final week of the Rugby World Cup kicked off properly today when England head coach Eddie Jones said someone was spying on their training ahead of Saturday’s clash with the All Blacks.
“There was definitely someone in the apartment block (opposite the training ground) filming. It might have been a Japanese fan,” he said in a conference in Tokyo, today.
It was a mischievous performance from Australian coach Jones, who also called the New Zealand press pack “fans with keyboards.”
Related: The referees for the Rugby World Cup semi-finals
When pressed about whether the English security detail – who Jones called two “lovely blokes”, saying they were formerly security for Prince Harry and an ex-Prime Minister – he concluded “Don’t care, mate.”
He went on: “We used to do it (filming opposition training). I haven’t done it since 2001. There’s no need. Everyone knows what everyone else does. There’s no surprises in world rugby anymore.”
Accusation: In 2001 the Boks accused the Australians of spying in Perth (Getty Images)
In 2001, during what used to be the Tri-Nations, the Springboks suggested that a former club colleague of Jones and Glen Ella took a video their training. In response, then-All Blacks assistant Wayne Smith said: “We tend to rely on what we see on TV and what we can find out from other people rather than sending people to watch the opposition,” before concluding: “If there was an agreement that there was to be none of that (spying) then that would be a good result.”
Related: Handré Pollard wore the wrong jersey in Rugby World Cup quarter-final
Today Jones repeatedly said that filming training is a waste of time in the modern game.
However, he did take a swipe at the Kiwi media saying: “Someone has to ask them (the All Blacks) a question because the NZ media doesn’t. You guys are just fans with a keyboard, someone has to ask them some questions.
“The English media – a week ago I was going to get sacked, we couldn’t play. We deal with a completely different situation.”
England and New Zealand face off in Yokohama on Saturday (5pm JST/8am BST).
Keep track of events in Japan via our Rugby World Cup homepage.
Follow Rugby World on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.