There’s just no satisfying England coach Eddie Jones. His team had just reaffirmed its dominance of northern-hemisphere rugby by retaining…
LONDON —
There’s just no satisfying England coach Eddie Jones.
His team had just reaffirmed its dominance of northern-hemisphere rugby by retaining the Six Nations in spectacular style, tying New Zealand’s tier-one record of 18 straight wins in the process, when Jones laid down another challenge to England’s players.
“We want to achieve greatness,” Jones said, matter-of-factly. “They are in the dressing room now, they are talking about it. They want to do it.”
For Jones, the 61-21 thrashing of Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday was merely another steppingstone on England’s four-year journey to the top of the world game.
The next task is to beat Ireland in Dublin next Saturday to secure a second straight Grand Slam, a feat only five other teams have achieved.
Then, it’s about knocking the world champion All Blacks off their perch.
“We aren’t beating our chests, saying we are the No. 1 team in the world,” Jones said. “We want to be the No. 1 team in the world and we’re not, so we have to get better.”
England’s record under Jones is now played 17, won 17 after dismantling sorry Scotland in an unexpected mismatch in the 136th Calcutta Cup.
Jonathan Joseph scored three of the hosts’ seven tries as the English recorded their highest points total against their oldest international rival and equaled the biggest margin of victory in this fixture, from 2001.
“We are trying to move away from the tag of plucky losers, but that wasn’t even that,” Scotland captain John Barclay said. “We were useless.”
The Scots were talked up massively in the buildup after impressive wins over Ireland and Scotland but they failed to handle the occasion and the increased weight of expectation. They remain without a win at Twickenham since 1983, and couldn’t get out of southwest London quick enough after their hopes of landing a first Triple Crown in 27 years and a first championship since 1999 were ruthlessly torn apart.
