England and Saracens prop Mako Vunipola has revealed that England’s bold response to the New Zealand haka in the Rugby World Cup semi-final was Eddie Jones’s idea.
“We talked about it as a team but obviously everything has to get past the boss,” said Vunipola.
“He gave us the idea. We wanted to be respectful but we wanted to also make sure that they understood that we would be ready for the fight.
“We just knew that we had to back it up. There have been a few times in the past when the All Blacks have done that and blown the opposition away. We put accountability on ourselves to back it up and I thought we did.
“We knew it would rile them up, it probably felt like we disrespected them. We meant no offence by it, we just wanted to let them know that we were ready for the challenge ahead.
“And they let us know in the first couple of contacts. It was a ferocious contest, which is what you expect. I’m just very proud and happy for the boys.”
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