sport news Eddie Jones takes unlikely inspiration for England's rugby World Cup campaign ... trends now
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Eddie Jones cited the mission by US Special Forces to kill Osama bin Laden as unlikely inspiration for his quest to make England better at adapting to adversity.
After naming a training squad for a three-day camp in London next week, the coach yesterday revealed that he recently travelled to California to spend a couple of days with the Navy Seals. While there, he learned about how their operation in Pakistan in 2011, codenamed Neptune Spear, so nearly went wrong, despite prolonged preparation.
The SEALs’ ability to handle an unforeseen setback and complete their mission is an example of the sort of resilience that Jones hopes to instil in his squad.
Eddie Jones has been taking inspiration from the Navy Seals as he prepares for the World Cup
Talking up the tale, he said: ‘I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days out in San Diego about three weeks ago with the Navy Seals — understanding how we can prepare the players better to cope with the unexpected.
‘You know the Osama thing — they practised that project for 12 months, for 38 minutes of work. And the first thing they did was wrong. The helicopter hit the wires. They had 12 months to prepare, went through it religiously and they still get something wrong, but then they were able to cope with it and get it done within 38 minutes.
‘Look at us now, 12 months to the World Cup. We’re preparing for a game that’s got 35 minutes’ ball-in-play time. So the ability to dress-rehearse, prepare the
