Jones’ barb adds fire to Scots clash
EDDIE JONES has lit the fuse for a fiery Calcutta Cup showdown today by poking fun at Scotland’s terrible record at Twickenham — where they last beat England 36 years ago.
The national coach was asked to assess the benefit of home advantage, given that the Scots haven’t beaten their cross-border rivals in south-west London since 1983 and he quipped: ‘1883?...Oh, 1983, okay .... ’
Jones, in mischievous mood ahead of today’s Six Nations finale where his side will win the title if they beat Scotland and Ireland win in Wales, declared that his squad know what is coming and they can trump it. ‘There’s no secret. We’re not playing Mars or Pluto, we’re playing Scotland,’ he said. ‘They’ve got passion and play the game a certain way. We’ve got passion about playing for England. It’ll be about which side comes out with most intensity and desire and that’ll be us.’
Scotland captain Stuart McInally refused to bite after Jones’ barb at his country’s poor Twickenham record.
‘I wouldn’t react to that at all,’ McInally said. ‘I don’t think it will have a bearing on tomorrow so I don’t want to comment on that.
‘Yes, we are not competing for the championship, and that is disappointing from where we wanted to be right from the start. But whenever we play in a Scotland jersey, that comes with its own pressure. We may not be playing for a championship but we are playing for the whole of Scotland and everyone who watches us.’
But Jones warned Gregor Townsend’s visiting side to expect ‘an explosion’ from England today as he is convinced that the hosts are ready to produce an attacking masterclass to round off their championship campaign in style.
‘If we can create momentum around the ruck, I’d hate to be one of those Scottish backs,’ said Jones.
‘We’ve got an opportunity to show that we’re the best team in the Six Nations and approaching the best team in the world, and we’re not going to miss that opportunity.’
England could be playing for the title this evening, if Wales haven’t already claimed a Grand Slam by beating Ireland in Cardiff. But even if the championship has gone, Jones’s players won’t lack for motivation. Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs said: ‘Whenever you play Scotland, as much as it is bred in them, it is bred in us.
‘We want to be unbelievably physical and we want to be ruthless. We want the best performance of the tournament so far.’
McInally added: ‘It’s Scotland v England with the rivalry that has always been there. It is going to be an intense game and it will be about whoever plays the best rugby on the day. We take confidence from knowing we beat them last year at Murrayfield, but we’re under no illusions about how hard it will be.”
McInally did admit that Scotland’s poor record is spurring them on. ‘That stat does give us that little bit extra,’ he said. ‘Being the first team to win here (at Twickenham) for a while would be nice.
‘Can we win? Of course. We are excited by the challenge.’
Ireland captain Rory Best joined McInally in trying to brush off Jones’ wind-ups.
Jones claimed Wales, who meet Ireland today, looked tired ahead of their tilt at a first Grand Slam since 2012, but Best said: ‘There’s a lot of things that go on and the coaches have their own ways of doing it, those comments come left, right and centre. It’s largely irrelevant to us what Eddie thinks about Wales, it’s about what we think.’ ENGLAND: E Daly; J Nowell, H Slade, M Tuilagi, J May; O Farrell (capt), B Youngs; B Moon, J George, K Sinckler; J Launchbury, G Kruis; M Wilson, T Curry, B Vunipola. Reps: L Cowan-Dickie, E Genge, D Cole, B Shields, N Hughes, B Spencer, G Ford, B Te’o. SCOTLAND: S Maitland; D Graham, N Grigg, S Johnson, B McGuigan; F Russell, A Price; A Dell, S McInally (capt), W Nel; B Toolis, G Gilchrist; S Skinner, H Watson, M Bradbury. Reps: F Brown, G Reid, S Berghan, J Gray, J Strauss, G Laidlaw, A Hastings, C Harris.