Eddie Jones has made the remarkable claim on Tuesday that England were spied on as they began preparations for the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand this weekend. England’s head coach also sought to turn up the heat on the All Blacks by insisting his side had nothing to lose on Saturday whereas New Zealand had “pressure chasing them down the street” as they hunt a third successive World Cup title.

In a claim that has similarities to that made by Jones in 2003, when in charge of Australia and also preparing for a World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, he said the England security team became aware of someone using a long-lens camera to film their entire training session from a window of a nearby apartment block. As a result he joked that England had sent a member of staff to spy on the All Blacks.

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The session still went ahead as planned at Arcs Urayasu Park, where the training pitch is surrounded by a two-metre tarpaulin, but Jones said that England’s security staff, who used to work for Prince Harry and the prime minister, had spotted a red light from a camera in the apartment block.

Jones chose to base England next to Disneyland in Tokyo Bay and use the nearby facilities, rather than returning to the city centre after the quarter-final victory against Australia. New Zealand are also familiar with the area, having used the same training facilities before and after their pool-stage win against Namibia. They were also based in the same hotel before facing Japan last year.

“There was definitely someone in the apartment block filming but it might have been a Japanese fan,” Jones said. “I don’t care, mate. We have got someone there [at New Zealand training] now. Everyone knows what everyone does so there are no surprises in world rugby any more. We knew [we were being filmed] from the start, it doesn’t change anything, we love it.”

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While Jones dismissed the idea that opponents can benefit from spying, he keeps security tight at England’s Bagshot training base. In addition, when England relocated back to Miyazaki to escape Typhoon Hagibis this month security guards were on hand to prevent videos or photographs being taken during an open training session. Jones has also previously claimed he was certain the Wales head coach, Warren Gatland, sends a spy when England hold open training sessions at Twickenham. Furthermore, Jones admitted to spying himself but claimed he had not done so since 2001. “You just don’t need to do it any more. There’s no value in doing that sort of thing, absolutely zero.”

In 2003, before the Wallabies’ semi‑final win against New Zealand, Jones had said: “There have been people here with lenses trying to take photos. There is some espionage going on.” The All Blacks head coach at the time was John Mitchell, who is now Jones’s assistant with England. On Tuesday Jones said: “I’ve seen coaches spy, I’ve had other coaches spy, I’ve had mates spy as well. It is what it is, but I don’t see any advantage.”

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England will contest their first semi-final in 12 years on Saturday whereas New Zealand have not lost a World Cup match since 2007. Jones has recently claimed the All Blacks are the greatest team in sporting history but has insisted they are beatable. “[Our players] know they’re human. They bleed, they drop balls, they miss tackles like every other player. It’s our job to take the time and space away so that we put them under pressure. New Zealand talk about walking towards pressure, well this week the pressure is going to be chasing them down the street. We’ve got nothing to lose, that’s the exciting thing for us. It is always harder to defend a World Cup and they will be thinking about that and therefore there is pressure.”

Moments before Jones made his claims, the New Zealand head coach, Steve Hansen, was asked about potential mind games this week. “Sometimes you’re better not to bother going there and sometimes you are,” he said. “Eddie will decide whether he wants to go there and I’ve already decided what I want to do. There are still a couple more days to go. There’s no point is there? He’s a smart man. He knows me and I know him.”