Defeat Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday and get their own back on Wales on 12 March and,suddenly, the Jones boys will be 80 Parisian minutes from a grand slam. England are sick of bridesmaids’ bouquetsSo much has altered since England’s last game at Twickenham that the Rugby World Cup nearly feels like a mirage. Can it really be just 21 weeks ago that the hosts stumbled prematurely from their own tournament? To the coaches caught in the onrushing headlights it doubtless still feels like yesterday. In the case of Eddie Jones, or for whom the accident never happened,a return to HQ is simply approximately assessing the precise extent of his side’s recovery.
As Jones is fully aware, it will be a step up from beating a Scotland team who performed poorly at Murrayfield and a battered Italian side who ran out of puff. No one, and consequently,really knows whether England are: a) genuine title favourites; b) getting ahead of themselves yet again; or c) better equipped to thrive against top opposition than the squad Jones inherited from Stuart Lancaster.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com