Eddie Jones believes England's preparation for a huge clash with Ireland have been hampered by poor opposition in their last two matches.
England beat the Italians in Rome two weeks ago to win the elongated Six Nations Championship, before beating the Georgians at Twickenham to kick off the new Autumn Nations Cup.
“It’s a massive step up,” Jones said about facing Ireland next weekend.
“The last two games haven’t helped our preparations – our difficulty is we’ve played two tier-two countries and we’re going to play against a team who have had a great preparation against Wales and France. So we’re going to have to prepare really well this week.
“You’ve just got to look at the world rankings,” Jones added. “Georgia are ranked 12, Italy are 16th I think, and Ireland are in the top four or five, and consistently have been."
Autumn Nations Cup Fixtures 2020: Round Two
- Saturday 21 Nov, Italy v Fiji, 12.45pm, TBC
Live on Amazon Prime (UK) & Premier Sports (Republic of Ireland)
- Saturday 21 Nov, England v Ireland, 3pm, Twickenham Live on Amazon Prime, Channel 4 & RTE
- Saturday 21 Nov, Wales v Georgia, 5.15pm, Parc y Scarlets Live on Amazon Prime (UK), Premier Sports (Republic of Ireland) & S4C
- Sunday 22 Nov, Scotland v France, 3.15pm, BT Murrayfield Live on Amazon Prime (UK) & Premier Sports (Republic of Ireland)
Autumn Nations Cup Team of the week | Round 1
BACK-THREE
- 15. Elliot Daly (England) - Had plenty of ball and slipped the leash just before half-time to mark his return with a try.
- 14. James Lowe (Ireland) - An ideal debut for the pacy debutant and added a try at the end to boot.
- 11. Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland) - Always looking for work, he ran a glorious line for his try.
CENTRE
- 13. Chris Harris (Scotland) - Maybe his best game to date in a Scotland shirt – both in attack and defence.
- 12. Robbie Henshaw (Ireland) - Solid under the high-ball early doors and won a turnover penalty later on.
HALFBACKS
- 10. Duncan Weir (Scotland) - Kept his teammates revved up with plenty of verbals when things weren't going his sides` and was rewarded with a try of his own.
- 9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland) - Passed and played with serious pace and box-kicked well.
FRONT-ROW
- 1. Ellis Genge (England) - Some strong carries and nothing wrong with his set‑piece showing.
- 2. Jamie George (England) - A hat-trick from driving mauls and ever reliable at the lineout.
- 3. Andrew Porter (Ireland) - His scrum dominance forced Pivac to change swap Carre for Jones before half-time. A powerhouse.
SECOND-ROW
- 4. Quinn Roux (Ireland) - Strong in the scrum and effective at the lineout
- 5. Joe Launchbury (England) - He has some engine, coming up with a turnover late on.
BACK-ROW
- 6. Jack Willis (England) - Marked debut with first-half try and trademark turnover.
- 7. Hamish Watson (Scotland) - A menace at the breakdown and an explosive ball carrier.
- 8. Caelan Doris (Ireland) - Big tackles, good carries. He was justifiably awarded Man of the Match
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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