Eddie Jones: Our intensity level is even better than against All Blacks (2024)

Eddie Jones has claimed England are ready to hit Ireland with the same intensity that floored New Zealand at the World Cup after reinstating Manu Tuilagi in his starting midfield.

Tuilagi’s powerful carrying set the tone for England’s dominant Six Nations victory in Dublin last year. The Leicester Tigers centre is fit again after overcoming the minor groin strain he suffered in the defeat by France on February 2.

Last year’s 32-20 victory over Ireland, the World Cup quarter-final demolition of Australia and the semi-final triumph against the All Blacks were three of England’s best performances in modern times.

Jones, 60, is convinced his team are primed to deliver another “statement” display tomorrow. England must win to keep their title hopes alive. If Ireland prevail they will clinch the triple crown and remain on course for the grand slam.

“It’s a big game, isn’t it?” Jones said. “It’s our first home game so we’re uncomfortably excited about the game. If you use the rollercoaster analogy you’re sitting at the top of a hill, you’re excited but you’re also anxious, a bit uncomfortable.

“We’ve had really good preparation — it was a little bit edgy on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday we had a really good run, probably our best training session of the Six Nations.

“It was by far the most intense session we’ve done. You’re not quite sure. We’re getting back to our World Cup level, or even above the World Cup level whereas at the start of the Six Nations we were 20 per cent below that.”

Despite the makeshift feel about some areas of the squad, Tuilagi’s return at outside centre means England’s starting XV features 12 from the World Cup semi-final victory over the All Blacks and the final a week later.

The only absentees are enforced: Mako Vunipola has returned to Tonga for family reasons, while Billy Vunipola and Anthony Watson are injured. That is quite some firepower England will be missing.

It was Tuilagi who set the ball rolling last February, catching a long lineout throw as England charged into Ireland territory and scored the opening try inside two minutes.

From there, Mako Vunipola, Tom Curry and the England forwards dominated Ireland. When the two sides met again in a World Cup warm-up game, Tuilagi scored as England won 57-15; the first sign that not all was right in the Ireland camp heading to Japan.

“It’s great to have Manu back,” George Ford, the England fly half said. “He’s looking fit, he’s looking fresh and he’s got a smile on his face, which means we know he is ready. He’s a great weapon for us and we need to make sure that we use him in the right way. He’s got a unique point of difference which can get us on the front foot more often than not.

“We’re going to have to be somewhere near our best this weekend. We have huge respect for Ireland. They have started this tournament well and they’re very well coached.

“Everyone talks about the start of Test matches which is massively important, the first 20 minutes. I can’t think of too many teams that, in an international game, wouldn’t be there from an attitude and intensity point of view at the start of the game.

“The thing we’ve spoken about is: beyond that first 15-20 minutes, to keep that constant pressure on the team, which we did in those games [against Ireland last year, Australia and New Zealand].

Related articles