Northern | US

'They pulled our pants down badly last year'


A disappointed Owen Farrell and George Ford look on after losing to Scotland in 2018 (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

Eddie Jones says the last weekend of the Six Nations “will be like a Grand Final” after England hammered hapless Italy 57-14 to leave Wales with only a one-point lead.

ADVERTISEMENT

Manu Tuilagi and Brad Shields scored two tries apiece, while Jamie George, Jonny May, Dan Robson and George Kruis also dotted down in a rout at Twickenham on Saturday.

Wales beat Scotland 18-11 earlier in the day to stay on course for a Grand Slam – they can complete a clean sweep in this season’s tournament if they get the better of defending champions Ireland in Cardiff next Saturday.

Jones is looking forward to what promises to be a thrilling finale, with England eyeing a fourth bonus-point win of the campaign when they take on Scotland after Wales and Ireland have locked horns.

He told ITV Sport: “Next week will be like a Grand Final, it’ll be exciting. We cannot control what happens in the other game, but we can control what happens against Scotland.

“We know this is their game.

“This is the one game they get themselves up for.

“They pulled our pants down badly last year, we’ve got some work to do to make sure we finish the game [next week] with our pants up.”

England ran riot after the disappointment of their defeat to Wales a fortnight ago, though head coach Jones says there is still room for improvement.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Yes, it was a good response after Wales. We left a bit out there, there’s a bit of disappointment with certain aspects but we are looking forward to Scotland,” he added.

“I don’t think I coached the side very well against Wales, I was filthy about that – I let the players down.”

“We used the whole 23 today, we could have used the finishers better against Wales, and that was my fault, but they all made a contribution today.

“Ben Te’o and Manu Tuilagi are good players, and Joe Cokanasiga is only going to improve. We are so blessed to have Brad Shields and Mark Wilson who can play six, there is great competition for places for next week.”

ADVERTISEMENT

England vs Italy by the numbers:

Video Spacer

Get the RugbyPass App 📱

Follow the biggest matches with live scores, line-ups, news and analysis, all in the RugbyPass App.

Download Here
On Apple IOS, Android, and Tablet.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

N
NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

36 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close