With the final weekend of the 2022 Six Nations looming and England struggling to avoid finishing in the bottom half of the table, you can only marvel at Eddie Jones’s relentless chutzpah. In the head coach’s view it is grand slam-chasing France who have most to ponder currently, with his side intent on exploiting the gaps in their hosts’ armour in Paris on Saturday.
Given England lost the try count 4-0 against Ireland last weekend and were beaten at Twickenham by a record margin under Jones, the truth is that far wider cracks are threatening to open up closer to home. As so often, though, Jones is much keener to discuss potential opposition frailties than to consider the implications of another heavy England defeat.
