FELIX JONES SAID there was no mixed emotions after watching England storm to an impressive 23-22 win against Ireland at Twickenham today.
The former Munster and Ireland player joined Steve Borthwick’s England coaching team ahead of this year’s Six Nations championship, fresh from helping South Africa win back-to-back World Cup titles.
Having looked after the Springboks’ attack, Jones has taken on the role of defence coach within Borthwick’s England set-up.
Borthwick’s men had struggled for form in the Six Nations prior to today’s game in Twickenham, where they summoned a huge performance to snatch a superb win – Marcus Smith’s late drop-goal clinching a deserved one-point victory.
“It’s all positive emotion at the moment,” Jones told RTÉ.
“Obviously I’m unbelievably happy for the lads because of the way they applied themselves and committed and not had any moments of doubt, they just kept their levels high and I’m obviously very happy for Danny Care, 100th Test today, and the way the bench came on and had such a big impact for us.
“I think it could have gone either way to be honest, changes in lead, one team seemed to throw a punch and the other team would counter-punch very well.
“A very exciting game, could have gone either way, so we’re pleased, but ultimately we have to go again next week in France. There’s no rest in this tournament, we have to back it up now.”
Ireland were heavily fancied to continue their winning run in London but England delivered a statement performance as Andy Farrell’s side fell to their first Six Nations defeat since a 2022 loss in France.
Jones said England hadn’t let the negative commentary around the team seep into their thinking ahead of the game.
“Well I think we’ve tried to keep ourselves in our own reality. You know, you’re never as good as anyone says you are and you’re never as bad as anyone says you are, it’s usually somewhere in the middle.
“We tried to stay in our own reality and just build upon our performances and like I said, we won’t be getting too carried away. It will all be about next week for us again.
“We’re definitely still a work in progress. I don’t think I’ve ever come off a field after 80 minutes and been perfectly happy with how everything went. Today, there were many things to fix, but credit to the players, they just kept going right up until the end and they got what they deserved.”
