England retain Six Nations crown as Jones urges team to seize ‘greatness’
JONATHAN Joseph scored a hattrick of tries as England retained their Six Nations title with a 6121 rout of Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday, which also equalled New Zealand’s record of 18 successive wins by a “tier one” nation.
England ran in seven tries in total against a Scotland side who had arrived in London bidding for the Triple Crown and with hopes of a first Twickenham victory since 1983.
England’s points tally was also the most either side had managed in the 135-match history of rugby union’s oldest fixture and saw them equal their record 40-point margin of victory against the Scots set in a 43-3 success in 2001.
England had not led at half-time in any of their previous matches this Six Nations but were all but out of sight at 30-7 ahead at the break
Owen Farrell, passed fit shortly before kick-off following a leg injury, converted all seven tries and kicked four penalties for a haul of 26 points.
Scotland did manage three converted tries, prop Gordon Reid going over in the first half before centre Huw Jones crossed twice after the break. But Joseph completed his treble early in the second half before the strength of England’s bench came to the fore.
Powerhouse No8 Billy Vunipola needed just five minutes of his Test comeback following a knee injury to score a try before replacement scrum-half Danny Care crossed twice late on to seal an emphatic win.
England coach Eddie Jones challenged his side to achieve “greatness” by completing back-to-back Grand Slams after the retention of their Six Nations crown.
England will break the world champions’ mark if they beat Ireland in Dublin next weekend, where a win would also see them complete a second straight clean sweep in the Six Nations. No side has done that in the Six Nations era, with France achieving consecutive Five Nations Grand Slams in 1997 and 1998. England last managed the feat in 1992 and 1993
“We’ve got a fantastic opportunity,” said Jones, yet to lose a match as England coach since taking charge following the hosts’ first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup. “It’d mean for the players they’ve achieved greatness.”
“How many times in your life do you get to be great? It’s exciting. They’re in the dressing room now talking about it. They want to do it.”
Jones said Ireland, who ended New Zealand’s winning streak, would love nothing more than to spoil England’s party.
“Ireland, psychologically, are in a very strong position,” he added. “They’re beaten, they’re out of the tournament and they love spoiling parties.
“And the party they’d love to spoil the most is the England party,” insisted Jones, coach of the Australia side beaten by England in the 2003 World Cup final
“We’re vulnerable, because we’ve won, we’re champions of the Six Na- tions. We’re going to have to work really hard to get ourselves right for the game. And we will.”
England kicked off this Calcutta Cup clash knowing any kind of win would see them crowned Six Nations champions after Wales beat Ireland 22-9 in Cardiff on Friday.
Scotland were fortunate that hooker Fraser Brown was not sent off as early as the second minute for a dangerous, late tackle on Elliot Daly that saw the England wing appear to land on his neck. French referee Mathieu Raynal decided a yellow card was sufficient punishment when many officials might have reached for a red.
Damage limitation
But no sooner had Scotland been reduced to 14 men, than Joseph, recalled in place of Ben Te’o following the 36-15 win over Italy, scored a third-minute try. The ball was spun wide and Joseph’s run saw him beat opposing centre Alex Dunbar.
England, with flanker Maro Itoje making ground and Joseph continuing to cause problems, then won two close-range penalties which Farrell kicked to extend their lead to 13-0 as early as the 15th minute.
Scotland then saw star fullback Stuart Hogg leave the field for a head injury assessment, with his replacement Mark Bennett soon forced off with a leg injury.
Scotland scrum-half Ali Price moved out onto the wing and, in the midst of the disruption, Joseph scored his second try when another well-timed run saw him slice through the visitors’ defence.
The Scots got on the scoreboard just before the half hour when Reid burrowed over after his side had declined a kickable penalty.
But Farrell added another penalty and England had a third try in the 35th minute.
Farrell released Joseph with a welltimed pass and he in turn found Anthony Watson, on for the injured Daly, who sped over against an overwhelmed Scotland defence.
Joseph completed his hat-trick early in the second half when another well-judged run saw him go over off the back of a close-range ruck following a pass by Ben Youngs.
Farrell converted and added another penalty to leave England out of sight at 40-7.
Jones did reduce England’s lead when the centre crossed for a 50thminute try, fly-half Finn Russell again converting, but Scotland were now in damage-limitation mode.
Billy Vunipola charged over from a line-out drive in the 58th minute before Jones grabbed his second score.
But Care’s two late tries, a dart followed by the scrum-half crowning a prolonged period of possession, emphasised England’s dominance.