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Eddie Jones hailed the performance of his side following their 21-10 success against Ireland
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The victory means Jones has won all three of his matches since succeeding Stuart Lancaster as boss
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England are now a point clear at the top of the Six Nations standings
England head coach Eddie Jones praised the performance of his side following their 21-10 success against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.
Second half tries from Anthony Watson and Mike Brown, as well as 11 points from the boot of Owen Farrell, helped the 2003 world champions to their latest victory.
Saturday’s success made it three wins out of three for England under the Aussie and left the men in white top of the standings heading into their potential title decider against Wales in a fortnight’s time.
Jones was encouraged by England’s build-up play but less so by the quality of their first-half finishing.
“Ireland are the incumbent Six Nations champions, so we expected a tough game. We left 10-15 points out there in the first half,” Jones said.
“The structure of our attack was excellent, but the finishing wasn’t. This was a decent step up.”
England No.8 Billy Vunipola produced another impressive display, the 23-year-old making vital ground in attack, and Jones said: “Billy’s only going to get better and better. He is just a kid learning how to play the game.”
Another of England’s rising stars, Maro Itoje, also impressed with the 21-year-old lock marking his first Test start by outjumping Devin Toner for an important line-out steal off an Ireland throw in the second half.
Jones, who had previously compared Itoje to a Vauxhall Viva, a modest family saloon car, said: “He’s gone up a level from a Viva – an Astra. I thought he did a good job.”
England remains on course to secure their first success in the Six Nations since 2011 and, if they win their last two matches against Wales and France, then they will also seal the Grand Slam for the first time in 13 years.