• Head coach will look for outside consultation in conditioning his squad • ‘It’s working with players so they understand changes they have to make’

Eddie Jones is calling in outside help to ensure his players are fully conditioned for the 2019 World Cup in Japan with Dave Reddin, a member of the management team when England won the tournament in 2003, among those who will be consulted.

Jones is halfway through his contract as England’s head coach and, after a run of 19 victories in his first 20 Tests he said the players would experience radical changes in training because he did not believe they were fit enough to win the World Cup. “It is about working individually with the players so they understand the changes they have to make,” said Jones.

“We are telling them where we see the changes in the way the game is going and what the implications are for them. Many have been in the game for 10 years and they have got to change the way they train now.

“It is time to do that now with two years to go before the World Cup. You don’t have to be fit enough now to win the tournament, but you will be on the night of the final in November 2019. We’re always looking for advice from outside because there’s always people who are smarter than us, who can come in and tell us we’re dumb.

“Dave Reddin, who is now with the Football Association, is a brilliant operator who was involved in the 2003 World Cup, and is someone we will consult. We have been to the University of Oregon to see Jimmy Radcliffe, one of the most brilliant strength and conditioning coaches, and we are getting him to come over for the final week of the autumn series to look at what we are doing.”

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Jones is still considering where England will go in the summer of 2019 for a training camp. Two years ago the squad went to Denver for training at high altitude. “We won’t be going there,” he said. “We are up to draft 10 of our World Cup plan. You have to be careful because, while there is a cycle of fastness in the game now, it might not be like that in 2019. There is a base level of fitness that you need and then you have to be looking at how you can improve players individually. The specificity of where the game is comes in the last three months.”

Jones made a point from the moment he arrived in England that his players needed to get fitter and, while some of his training camps have resulted in injuries that have not impressed Premiership directors of rugby, he does not anticipate problems with the clubs as he steps up his programme.

“They understand,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we’ve got a great relationship but we’ve got a good working relationship with the clubs: we’ve both worked hard to achieve it and they understand that it is for the benefit of the players. The only time we have the team for a period of time is before the World Cup. You see sides go to the tournament either under-prepared or over-prepared. It is getting the balance right and the question is how you do that: speak to as many smart people as you can, talk to your players, work out a plan and get it right between physical training, tactical training and social rest.

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“You involve the players to an extent but they also don’t know what is good for them in these sort of situations because how many of them have won a gold medal? Not many.”

Jones said he supported the RFU’s bold strategic plan not just to be the leading country in the rugby world but to make the sport the most popular in England, where football has long been top in terms of support and finance.

“Strategic plans are for administrators and I am not one of those but what I like about the plan is that it sets the tone for the game wanting to be better and I love that,” said Jones.

“I remember when John O’Neill was the chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union: not many people liked him but he came out and said he wanted rugby to be the most popular sport in Australia and we went a long way to achieving that because there was a dream.

“What Steve Brown [the RFU chief executive] has done is set a dream for English rugby and it is fantastic: you want to be as good as you can be. There is no harm in failing. It is like us going to the World Cup: if we don’t win, there is no shame in that as long as you put your best foot forward.”

Brown said he had not given up hope that Jones could be persuaded to extend his stay in England beyond the 2019 World Cup despite repeated statements from the coach that he intended to take time out from rugby and relax.

“I will worry about that at the appropriate time; it is not a decision I will make,” he said. “The only thing I am open to is winning the World Cup. As head coach of the national team, you’ve got a huge responsibility. You’ve got a responsibility for your team to play with pride and passion. You want kids to want to play for that team. We’ve just got to prepare well. If we do that, we put the sport in a better position.”