Jones hails 'robust' Sarries

Jones: Pleased

You've then got to be good enough to take advantage of your opportunities and we did that today.

Eddie Jones
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Saracens boss Eddie Jones has paid tribute to his men following their 44-14 rout of Newcastle on Sunday.

Jones was particularly pleased at the way his side adapted to the new ELVs on their way to securing their first Guinness Premiership win of the season.

"It's a very tight competition but we took our opportunities and got a few points," he said.

"We had some control today and, with the way the game's being played at the moment and the interpretation of the laws, you need that control.

"You've then got to be good enough to take advantage of your opportunities and we did that today.

"We want to be a side that can play at the highest level and to do that you have to be robust in a certain number of areas.

"One's the set piece and the other is defence and in both of those areas for 70 minutes we can give ourselves a pass mark."

Timidness

Jones however, expressed some disappointment that Newcastle were allowed to come back with two tries long after the game had been put beyond their reach.

But the former Wallaby coach said that the new rules had created some uncertainty amongst players in the early stages of the season.

"There's a lot of timidness at the moment," he added. "So the good thing about us today was that we played with a lot of conviction, knew what we wanted to do and went and did it.

"There is a great deal of worry about is it the wrong way to play the game but I think after five or six or seven weeks we'll see a sorting out and then everyone will understand the laws we are going to play under and how they are going to interpret it."

Newcastle certainly struggled to come to terms with the experimental rules introduced this season, falling foul of referee Dean Richards more than once.

Head coach Steve Bates, who saw skipper Phil Dowson and flanker Ed Williamson receive yellow cards within a minute of each other, said: "I was disappointed with the set piece in the first half and the second half was a mess.

"We had two men sin-binned and that meant we were always going to be under pressure."

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