Eddie Jones challenged his title-retaining England players to achieve greatness in Dublin by becoming the first team to win consecutive grand slams in the Six Nations era.
Victory over Ireland would also set a record for a tier-one nation of 19 Test wins on the trot after Jones’s team defeated Scotland by 40 points at Twickenham, the highest winning margin in Calcutta Cup history and the first time England had passed the half-century scoring mark.
“Ireland is a fantastic opportunity for the players to achieve what has never been done,” Jones said. “The win over Scotland has put us in a good position, but it is all about what we do next. We were ruthless today and there were great lessons for us as we strive to become the No1 team in the world.
“There has been an attitude shift in the team. It was not that it was bad before, but we are embracing what is ahead of us and want to take things to a new level. All credit to Scotland for sticking in, but we were good in the set pieces and the breakdown and executed some lovely plays.”
Jonathan Joseph scored a hat-trick for the second time since Jones took over and five of England’s first six tries came directly from lineouts as Scotland’s defence struggled to cope with the pace and power of their hosts.
“Some of the space created by George Ford and Owen Farrell for JJ was outstanding,” Jones said. “Scotland did not defend well, but having passers at 10 and 12 helps and they have a great mentor in Jonny Wilkinson. We will enjoy the win tonight, but after that it will all be about Ireland.
“Ireland will be in a psychologically strong position. They are out of the tournament and they love spoiling parties, especially England’s. We are in a vulnerable state as champions and will have to work hard top get ourselves right The players have the opportunity to achieve greatness and they are in the changing room talking about it; they want to do it.”
England lost the wing Elliot Daly early in the match. He passed a head-injury assessment after being late-tackled and dumped on his back by the hooker Fraser Brown, but was taken off by Jones eight minutes after returning to the field.
Joseph became only the second player after Brian O’Driscoll to score a second hat-trick of tries in the Six Nations. “I am honoured to join the club, but if we end up losing in Ireland we will all be massively disappointed,” he said.
“We want to win the Grand Slam. We are going to train unbelievably hard and treat it like it is our World Cup final, giving it our all. We are not thinking about the Lions at all: our focus is on England and now it is about Ireland on Saturday and getting the win.”
Scotland lost four players with head injuries, as they did in their other away Six Nations match in France. “My concern is what team we will have against Italy,” their coach, Vern Cotter, said. “England are a great team, but we did not start well and were caught out by set plays. The game went away from us quite quickly.”
