‘England had point to prove against Georgia’ - Jones

EDDIE Jones insisted England had settled a score with Georgia after launching the Autumn Nations Cup with a 40-0 victory at Twickenham.

A one-sided clash featured a staggering 19 scrums as England looked to take on the underdogs at the strongest element of their game, and they were rewarded by emerging convincing winners at the set-piece.

It avenged an explosive training session in Oxford in February 2019 when the rival packs came to blows during a live scrummaging session, forcing coaches and backroom staff to intervene.

“We always want to win the forwards battle, especially against Georgia,” said Jones, England’s head coach. “All the guys remember the session against Georgia in Oxford. It was one of those things when you sit down and talk about scrummaging, Georgia comes to mind.

“Even the backs got involved in that session. They ran from about 40 metres away to have a go, so we wanted to make a point against them that we won’t be stood over, and we did that.

“It was a good, tough win for us. We enjoyed the game and enjoyed the contest up front.

“I’m really pleased with the efforts of the starting front row - Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Will Stuart. And then Mako Vunipola, Tom Dunn and Kyle Sinckler came on and did a great job at the end of the game, so we were pretty comprehensive in that area.”

Jonathan Joseph was enjoying a productive afternoon that included him setting up a try for Elliot Daly, only to limp off in clear discomfort after injuring his back moments after supplying the scoring pass.

However, Jones is “cautiously optimistic” that he will be available to face Ireland next weekend.

Jamie George emerged as the hero of the day after becoming the first England hooker to score a hat-trick of tries, each one a finish off a driving line-out, but apart from Daly’s try there were few fireworks.