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England captain Itoje ready for Eddie Jones' 'weird and wonderful' tactics in Japan clash

Eddie Jones (l) gave Maro Itoje his England debut 10 years ago
Eddie Jones (l) gave Maro Itoje his England debut 10 years agoDAVID ROGERS / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

England captain Maro Itoje is confident his team can handle whatever a Japan side coached by Eddie Jones throw at them in Saturday's Nations Championship clash at Twickenham.

Japan have lost all six of their previous Tests against England but Jones wants the Brave Blossoms, renowned for their fast-paced handling game, to cause "chaos", arguing the "English don't react well to unorthodox rugby".

The veteran Australian coach gave Itoje his Test debut in 2016 when he was England boss and after seven years spent playing under his guidance, the Saracens lock is readying himself for some unusual ploys.

"Most coaches want to keep you thinking," Itoje said Friday. "Eddie would throw a whole load of weird and wonderful things at us to keep us sharp and keep us on our toes.

"Whether it's unorthodox shapes in attack, things around the set-piece - I know Japan are going to want to keep the ball in play or come up with special unique plays."

England opened their November campaign with a 45-22 win over Australia last weekend, while Japan suffered a narrow 28-21 loss to Wales in Cardiff.

Jones, known for his pre-match mind games, has suggested England will be looking towards next week's showpiece clash at home to New Zealand and the ensuing finals weekend at Twickenham.

But the 32-year-old Itoje insisted: "Let's not sleepwalk into things and think 'most teams play like this' because Japan aren't most teams.

"If we're alive and we've got our house in order then we should be able to deal with what they throw at us."

Itoje is on track to lead England into next year's Rugby World Cup in Australia after being stood down from the July tour - his first full off-season break in more than a decade.

During the summer his wife Mimi gave birth to their first child.

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