‘England can seize greatness’
ENGLAND coach Eddie Jones has challenged his side to achieve greatness by completing back-to-back grand slams after they retained their Six Nations title with a round to spare following a 61-21 thrashing of Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday.
Jonathan Joseph scored a hat-trick as England ran in seven tries, with Owen Farrell overcoming a leg injury to kick 26 points as they overpowered Scotland in posting a record score in the 135th edition of rugby union’s oldest international fixture.
Victory also saw England equal New Zealand’s record of 18 successive test wins by a leading nation.
England will break the world champions’ mark if they beat Ireland in Dublin this 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,” Jones, who has yet to lose a match as England coach, said.
“It [would] mean for the players they have achieved greatness.
“How many times in your life do you get to be great? It’s exciting. They are in the dressing room now talking about it. They want to do it.”
Saturday’s match takes place on St Patrick’s weekend, with Ireland looking to bounce back from a 22-9 loss to Wales in Cardiff on Friday.
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 said.
“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,” Jones said.
“We’re vulnerable, because we’ve won, we’re champions of the Six Nations.”
Having established a 30-7 lead at half time, England did not let up and added 31 more points after the break on Saturday.
Jones’s ultimate ambition with England is to dethrone the All Blacks by winning the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
“We’re not beating our chests and saying we’re the No 1 team in the world, but we aspire to be the No 1 team in the world,” he said.
Scotland were never in the game, with their defence repeatedly ripped apart.
However, a win over Italy at Murrayfield next weekend could still see them finish second for the first time since the tournament became the Six Nations.
How many times in your life do you get to be great? It’s exciting