Eddie Jones has said England fear nobody in the Six Nations title race, insisting his side are in charge of their own destiny.
Victory against Wales on Saturday keeps them in the hunt for the championship and, though sterner tests await against Ireland and France, Jones revealed Manu Tuilagi could be back for both matches and believes his side are still capable of lifting the trophy.
England sit third in the table, a point behind Ireland and four behind France, who are the red-hot favourites for the title after putting Scotland to the sword on Saturday to maintain their 100% winning record.
Ireland, meanwhile, got back to winning ways with a commanding 57-6 win over Italy on Sunday and while England got the better of Wales at Twickenham on Saturday they were outscored three tries to one and were left hanging on at the end. Ireland are next up at Twickenham after the championship’s second fallow week – a match Jones described as a “semi-final” – before England conclude their campaign in Paris.
“There are three teams that can win it now and we are one of those three teams so we’ve got a lot more belief than the three teams that can’t win it,” Jones said.
“We’re in a good position. We’re in charge of our own destiny. We’ve just got to keep playing better, keep improving every game. We don’t fear anyone. We don’t care what other people think. All we care about is what we think and we know we’re a good young squad and a team that’s developing.
“All in all we’re in a really good position and we’re looking forward to playing a semi-final against Ireland. We’ve started off the Six Nations with a narrow loss to Scotland, we were probably the most dominant team, an emphatic win against Italy and a good tough win against the Six Nations champions. So we’re definitely going in the right direction.”
England will hold a training camp in Bristol next week before stepping up preparations for the visit of Ireland. Tuilagi will be absent, while Luke Cowan-Dickie sustained a knee injury against Wales which could rule him out for the remainder of the tournament. Tom Curry will also have to progress through the graduated return to play protocols after he was withdrawn on Saturday with a head injury.
Tuilagi was a late withdrawal last Thursday with another hamstring injury, having only just been named to make his England comeback. Jones said that Tuilagi would require a 10-day rehabilitation period but reserved judgment on whether he would be available to face Ireland.
“I am not even thinking about it at the moment,” he said. “Injuries have their own life. We will just wait and see. When we pick the squad for Bristol, he’s obviously not going to be available for that. Then I will pick a new squad for Ireland and I will see whether he is available or not. If he is available and he’s fit we will pick him and if he’s not then we will move on.”
