HEADS WE WIN
Billy says brain power will seal record glory
BILLY VUNIPOLA has urged England to win the mental battle with Ireland and secure their status as true greats of the game.
The England juggernaut flattened Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday and will roll into Dublin this weekend looking to create history.
Eddie Jones’s seemingly unstoppable outfit can set a world record of 19 consecutive Test wins as well as becoming the first team to win back-to-back Grand Slam titles in the Six Nations era.
The Irish have nothing to play for but the chance to spoil the mother of all England parties in their own backyard – the day after St Patrick’s Day.
This win, which included a record points haul against the Scots, saw England clinch the title with a game to spare.
But Vunipola says legendary status will only be achieved by finishing off the job at the Aviva Stadium.
Vunipola, who celebrated his return to action following knee ligament damage with a second-half try, said: “Do we want to make the next step or start again from the bottom?
“We’ve come a long way. I think Eddie and his coaching staff have pushed us massively to a goal that everyone laughed off at the end of the World Cup in 2015.
Power
“But now it’s a realistic goal. It all joins up. If you win 19 games on the trot, you are pushing it.
“We know we’re not the world’s No.1 team yet, but we want to do things within our power to show we are serious about this goal.
“Ireland will be the toughest challenge. We know the Irish team is going to come at us and I would probably say it is more mental than physical because we have never been in this position before, when we can push further on.
“It is a big occasion next week. It is the day after St Patrick’s Day, it is going to be very, very emotional.
“So we are going to have to turn up with the right mindset to try to negate everything that they are going to bring on the mental side of things and try to impose the game plan that we have.”
The Scots travelled south with genuine hopes of causing an upset, but Vern Cotter’s shambolic outfit were blitzed from start to finish.
The visitors were down to 14 men inside the opening two minutes when Fraser Brown was sin-binned for a brainless spear tackle on Elliot Daly. It cost them dear when man-of-the-match Jonathan Joseph scored the first of his hat-trick of tries moments later and the result was never in doubt.
Further touchdowns from substitutes Anthony Watson, Vunipola and Danny Care outlined England’s strength in depth, while the laser-like accuracy of Owen Farrell’s kicking landed seven conversions and four penalties.
All Scotland could muster were two tries from Huw Jones and Gordon Reid’s close-range effort, with Finn Russell converting all three.
But this was all about England and all eyes will now focus on Dublin, where Jones’s men will have to be at their very best again to make sure it isn’t the Irish ones that are smiling.