Eddie Jones can expect his toughest Six Nations yet, Ireland will threaten if they can improve away and Scotland need a winning start
Bidding for a third successive title, they are the team to beat having lost only once in 23 Tests under Eddie Jones. They often relied on their bench last season to compensate for slow starts, winning last year for the most part without being imperious. Injuries and suspensions have disrupted them again and, while they have the greatest strength in depth of any side in the tournament, Jones has yet to see the leadership qualities in his youngest recruits that would make him consider moving on such as Dylan Hartley and Mike Brown. England thrive on quick ball but they continue to be cursed by the absence of their gainline breaker, Billy Vunipola and there were times in 2017, even against Samoa, when they were slow to react when a plan unravelled. This is the year, with New Zealand at Twickenham in November, when England need to move beyond the merely good and it should be Jones’s toughest Six Nations with Scotland resurgent at Murrayfield and France at least talking a good game again.
Related: Six Nations predictions: England and Ireland may be heading for decider
Continue reading...