Eddie Jones backs England to improve

Editor

England head coach Eddie Jones hailed his side’s intensity in their win over Ireland in Dublin on Saturday and vowed they can play even better.

Jones’ side sealed a 32-20 bonus-point victory over the defending champions to get their 2019 Six Nations off to the perfect start.

And he paid tribute to his charges following Saturday’s performance.

“I was pleased with the intensity in which we played,” Jones told England Rugby.

“When you play against Ireland at home you know it’s going to be a physical game and so we came prepared for that and we knew we had to win that battle to win the game – we ripped in and probably shaded them in that area.”

And ahead of next Sunday’s clash against France at Twickenham, Jones added: “The next one is going to be better. We are a team that’s still growing, we are nowhere near our best and we will play better than that.

“I’m pleased for our players, and it’s our players who deserve all the credit. They have worked hard, come together in the space of 10 days and played a good game of rugby and made their country proud.”

Jonny May scored inside 90 seconds for England, while tries from Elliot Daly and a brace from Henry Slade completed the rout, with Jones quick to praise his players, including the returning Manu Tuilagi.

“The tight five were outstanding and if you look at the backline, Jonny May did a lot of selfless work today and was also outstanding” he said.

“Elliot and Henry are both good players, we want them to try things and I thought they were outstanding.

“It was a good comeback for Manu, he’s got his fitness back, he’s going to get his power back and he adapted really well – he will get better with each game.”

England’s next game is against the aforementioned France, who lost their Six Nations opener to Wales, but Jones believes they will be challenging opponents.

“We move on to France, they played really well against Wales and were unlucky to lose,” he said. “We’ll have a short break down and get ready to rip in on Tuesday.”