Jones ready for All Blacks

EDDIE JONES has responded to the prospect of England facing New Zealand this year by joking that he would like the fixture to be staged straight after tomorrow’s Grand Slam match in Dublin. The Rugby Football Union has approached the All Blacks with a view to staging a showdown at Twickenham on November 4 as an additional autumn international. The sport’s top two teams are not officially due to meet for another 18 months and following England’s successive RBS 6 Nations titles, the clamour for them to lock horns is growing. Victory over Ireland would see the champions defend the Grand Slam and surpass the All Blacks’ record of 18 straight Test wins, setting the scene for a mouth-watering collision against Steve Hansen’s reigning world champions. Jones said: ‘If the All Blacks want to turn up to the Aviva on Saturday and want to play us after Ireland, then we’ll consider it. ‘Would we win? After we’d beaten Ireland? Who knows? It would be interesting, wouldn’t it?’ It is understood that the proposal for a match against New Zealand was made with Jones’ approval, but the Australian on Thursday refused to discuss the prospect of an early clash with the triple world champions. ‘I’ve got no view on that, I’m not an administrator,’ he continued. ‘I haven’t negotiated contracts, all I’m worried about is Ireland. ‘The All Blacks have got nothing to do with us. ‘We want to be the number one team in the world. ‘When we get the opportunity to play them, we’ll play them.’