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England's Slam chance in Ireland like a World Cup final - Jones
By Peter Hanson
England’s crunch Six Nations clash against Ireland when they have the chance to complete back-to-back Grand Slams is like a Rugby World Cup final, says head coach Eddie Jones.
A 61-21 demolition of rivals Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday means England can secure consecutive Slams by beating the Irish in Dublin this weekend.
No team has managed to achieve such a feat since France in 1997 and 1998 (when the tournament had only five teams) and the scale of the achievement is not lost on head coach Jones.
“It’s great for us, a great opportunity and a great experience,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports.
“You know, we’re building towards a World Cup and it’s like a World Cup final, it’s winner takes all.
“To have this experience is only positive for us.”
TUNNEL CAM
Behind the scenes at Twickenham during yesterday’s RBS 6 Nations clash#ENGvSCO pic.twitter.com/jUOFkhKPkC
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 12, 2017
England are monitoring the fitness of winger Elliot Daly ahead of the trip to the Aviva Stadium.
Daly suffered concussion after a dangerous dump tackle from Fraser Brown, who was cited for the incident.
“Elliot is coming along well but you never know with these sort of things,” Jones added. “Every day he’s getting tested, every day he’s improving and we’re very hopeful he’ll play.
“Aside from that we’re pretty good. We’ll still pick the squad as we normally do, if he’s not right we’ve got plenty of good replacements, outstanding replacements.
“We want Elliot to be right, but if he’s not we move on.”
Jones also added that he expects British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland to be in attendance and told his players the best way to get on the plane to New Zealand is to impress against Ireland.
“I’m sure he’ll [Gatland] be there with a pint of Guinness enjoying himself,” he said.
“The players know if they play well they’ll get picked. They have to play well for us to get picked, that’s all they need to worry about.”
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