Chiefs duo help secure Six Nations title
By Mark Stevens
1/11/20
Eddie Jones was full of praise for his entire England set-up after they wrapped up the 2020 2020 Guinness Six Nations title on Saturday.
Jones’ side - which included Exeter Chiefs duo Henry Slade and Jonny Hill, the latter on his Test debut - beat Italy 34-5 in the second game of the day to move to the summit, but had to wait until the outcome of France’s clash with Ireland before beginning their celebrations.
Ireland needed to win by a seven-point margin and France required a 31-point triumph, meaning a 35-27 victory for the hosts in Paris kept England top of the table on points difference ahead of Les Bleus.
It is the third Championship the Australian coach has won in charge of England, following back-to-back successes in 2016 and 2017.
“I’m very proud of all the players and staff,” Jones said.“They’ve reacted superbly to the changing situations in the past couple of weeks and remained focused on the goal of winning the Guinness Six Nations.
“We’d also like to thank all our supporters. It’s strange not having fans in the stadium and we know it is a tough time for the country but we felt your support throughout the campaign and it does make a difference.
“Hopefully we can continue to deliver more good moments for our fans in the coming weeks.”
Jones had earlier hailed an “outstanding” second-half performance after his side’s victory in Rome.
A cagey first 40 minutes ended with the visitors 10-5 ahead but Jones’ side pulled away in the second half to claim the bonus point they needed.
“We had a good chat at half-time about what we needed to do and the players worked it out, so we got on with it,” Jones said.
“I was really pleased with the team’s response in the second half. In the first half we lost our way a little bit and got a bit distracted, possibly by the pressure of the scoreboard and some of the antics of the opposition.
“It was a difficult game for us but we got our focus and composure back at half-time and the second half was outstanding.”
Ben Youngs was the star of the show for the visitors, scoring either side of the interval to mark his 100th England appearance in style.
Jones had nothing but praise for his scrum-half, who is now a four-time Guinness Six Nations champion, and believes there will be plenty more milestones to come for Youngs, just the second England player to reach three figures after Jason Leonard.
“It’s lovely to see a player play well in his 100th game, which Ben did,” Jones said. “It was a difficult game with a slippery ball but he handled that well. He’s got plenty more in him.”
Jamie George marked his own 50-cap landmark with a try, with Tom Curry and Slade completing the scoring for Jones’ side.
England do not have too long to revel in the glory of their Championship win, with the inaugural Autumn Nations Cup getting underway in a fortnight’s time.
“We’ll have a couple of days rest then get back together later next week and put everything we have into our preparation for the Autumn Nations Cup,” Jones said.
“It’s another really important tournament for us and I’ll be expecting the same levels of application as we work towards performing at our best.”