AFTER WATCHING HIS side strike late against Wales to sustain his unbeaten time in charge, England head coach Eddie Jones wasn’t ready to offer empty platitudes to his next opponent.
Italy go to Twickenham in a fortnight having lost two home games to Wales and Ireland, the latter trouncing the Azzurri in a nine-try win in Rome today.
The reigning Grand Slam Champions are top of the Six Nations table after a dramatic win over Wales in Cardiff, and the Australian wants a dominant bonus point win to ensure they stretch their lead next time out.
“We’ve got a week’s training in central London next week,” Jones told the BBC post-match.
“We’ll train hard and do a few different things for the boys. Then we’ll be right for a week’s preparation against Italy.
Y’know it’s a big game for us because we want to take them to the cleaners.”
Jones also unleashed his most brazen side ahead of last year’s encounter with Italy, demanding his players deliver ‘a good hiding’ on the Azzurri.
England face Italy and Scotland on home turf in their next two fixtures while Ireland battle France and Wales.
Should England manage to secure a bonus point win against both Italy and Scotland (as Ireland almost did), even two more wins for Joe Schmidt’s men could leave them needing more than just a straightforward win to deny England back-to-back titles when they meet in the Championship’s closing fixture at the Aviva Stadium.
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