Rugby Union
I should have tinkered with final side – Jones
England coach Eddie Jones admits he should have utilised his squad better in their World Cup final loss against South Africa.
Jones' men famously beat New Zealand 19-7 in the semi-finals, arguably their best performance since they lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy in 2003.
However, in the final, Jones used the same starting XV with only Ben Spencer coming in for fellow scrum-half Willi Heinz on the bench.
In the end, South Africa wore down the Red Rose attack with the Springboks winning the World Cup for the third time.
Tries in the second half from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe meant they closed the game out to win 32-12.
Reflecting on the final, Jones admits he could have made changes to his side in order to freshen things up.
"It was one of those games - they started the game well and things came off for them," the 59-year-old told Sky Sports News. "Things didn't go well for us and we got on the back foot and failed to recover.
"If there's one thing I could have done differently it was probably to have changed the selection a little bit.
"I continued to change the selection from game to game [during the tournament] and probably in hindsight, I should have refreshed the squad a little bit."
Dan McCarthy is a reporter who is very knowledgeable about football at all levels, and a keen Leeds United fan. He also follows darts, snooker, motorsport, and rugby league.
