England coach Jones relishing clash against ‘greatest’ Welsh side
ENGLAND head coach Eddie Jones turned his sights to the “greatest Welsh side ever” after a resounding mauling of France gave his men two wins from two Guinness Six Nations games.
England backed up their victory in Ireland with a 44-8 defeat of Les Bleus at Twickenham, falling one point short of the record margin of victory of 37 points, set in 1911.
Jonny May scored a firsthalf hat-trick and there were tries for Henry Slade, Owen Farrell and a penalty try as England kept hapless France scoreless in the second half. Farrell kicked an additional 14 points.
Next for Jones’ men is a trip to Cardiff on February 23, with Jones apparently having forgotten the great Wales sides of the 1970s and the Grand Slam winners of 2005, 2008 and 2012 in his assessment of Warren Gatland’s men.
“There’s a lot more in this team and we understand that and we’re committed to being the very best we can be,” Jones said. “When we get back together we’ll start the process of how we can get better again.
“We’re playing the greatest Welsh side ever; we’re going to have to be at our absolute best.
“You know you’re playing against a Warren Gatland side. He’s been at the top of the tree in European rugby for the last 15 years, through his club and country and the Lions.
“You’re playing against a tough, physical team. They contest hard at the breakdown. You’ve got to earn every point against them. We’re looking forward to going down there. Should be fun.”
England led 30-8 at the interval, with four tries earning a bonus-point victory, but Jones insisted the second-half performance was even better. “I think when you put yourself in a position where after 30 minutes you’ve got a bonus point against a top team, you’ve done pretty well,” he added. “And the second half I thought our performance was even better. Even though we didn’t score as many points, our focus and our discipline to keep France scoreless was outstanding.
“But we just had a quick chat in the room there and we felt we probably left 15 to 20 points on the field.”
Jones reserved particular praise for May, who took his Test tally to 22 tries in 42 appearances, with two of his scores coming as reward for chasing kicks.
Jones added: “Jonny May’s like when you go to the park and you see someone with a tennis ball and they throw it, the dog runs 100mph and chases it and brings it back. He does that pretty well.”
We’re playing the greatest Welsh side ever; we’re going to have to be at our very best Eddie Jones