Irish provinces’ Euro success won’t hurt England, says Jones
EDDIE Jones has rubbished claims that Ireland hold an advantage over England heading into the Six Nations because the likes of Munster, Leinster and Ulster are outperforming Premiership sides in Europe, with the head coach insisting that it will come down to 15 versus 15 on March 17 when the two sides face off at Twickenham.
The match could prove to be a title-deciding encounter, and game week will no doubt see last season’s clash in Dublin brought up time and time again, when Ireland prevented England from winning a second consecutive Grand Slam and inflicted the only defeat on Jones since taking on the job.
Of course, there is plenty of rugby to be played between now and the St Patrick’s
Day meeting, with attentions firmly on the final European round this weekend where the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup will be decided.
Leinster have already qualified for the last eight, while both Ulster and Munster top their pools and know their destiny is in their own hands.
On the other hand, the Premiership is struggling to have any representatives in the last eight, with Exeter Chiefs needing a win at Glasgow to give them a chance while Mark McCall’s Saracens, Bath and Wasps saw their hopes severely dented with defeats last weekend.
But Jones does not believe that European form has any impact on the Six Nations, despite the momentum that the Irish players will have behind them when they meet up with coach Joe Schmidt (below) next week.
The Australian, who otherwise was in good spirits following the extension of his England contract by two years this week to 2021, was not best pleased with the assessment that his side are not the favourites to win the tournament even though they’ve won the last two championships.
“If you read the papers, then we might as well not turn up. I don’t even know why we’re having this press conference,” snapped Jones.
“Ireland are dominating Europe, their sides are going well. They have this central contracting system that allows them to have their players at their peak.
“We’ve got 13 players out (injured), so we’ve got no hope,” before the sarcasm ended.
“I’m not a bookmaker but I know we have a squad that’s good enough and that will work very hard and maximise the ability we have and put us in a position to win the Six Nations.”
Much has been made of the way that Guinness PRO14 sides rest their players in the league in order to save them for European fixtures due to the absence of relegation, whereas Premiership sides tend to deploy their strongest sides each week unless forced to rest internationals due to their agreement with the Rugby Football Union.
“If I say ‘Yes, they’ve got an advantage’, I’m saying we’ve got an excuse,” Jones said.
“We don’t have any excuses,” he added.