England not fit for purpose, says Eddie Jones

England head coach Eddie Jones has admitted his side do not make the grade when it comes to their fitness.

Jones has challenged the Red Rose players to sharpen up their shape for the challenges that lie ahead after seeing them in action at close quarters and observing their shortcomings.

“They’re not right for international rugby, that’s the distinction,” Jones said.

“They’re right for club rugby. They can play club rugby 365 days of the year but international rugby is faster, there’s more accelerations, the running speed is higher and you need to have a different sort of training for international rugby.”

Speaking on Radio Four’s Today programme, Jones said of his England players: “It’s quite simple to me that the time we have with them we work them hard, work them at the level we need to, and when they go away to their clubs if they need to do extra work they do it and if they don’t do it then England won’t be a dominant country.”

Jones expects the clubs to be supportive of his ambitions for England.

“They have to assist without a doubt and I’ve got no doubt English clubs will do that,” he added.

“One of the things I’ve noticed since I’ve been back is how professional and how well structured the clubs are. They’ve got strength and conditioning staff and medical staff at rates nowhere else in the world have.

“You’ve got to remember they’re coaching players to be successful at club level, they’re not coaching their players to be successful at international level, which is 100 per cent right.

“We’ve got to get them to understand and the players to understand that to be successful at international level there’s a plus factor there.”

Meanwhile, James Haskell insists the humility of “chosen one” Maro Itoje will prevent him from having his head turned by his growing band of admirers. Itoje made an impressive England debut in the 40-9 RBS 6 Nations victory over Italy in Rome, stepping off the bench to deliver a forceful second-half cameo that has strengthened his claim to a place in the starting XV.

The 21-year-old, who came on at blindside flanker but has played most of his senior rugby in the second row, has been tipped by Jones to be an international for years to come, but his team-mates are helping him stay level-headed.

“At the moment he is riding that wave so we will obviously give him banter about being the ‘chosen one’ and ‘people’s favourite’ etc, etc,” Haskell said.

“He has got more champagne than the whole of France for his man of the matches but we don’t have to worry about that kind of ego thing.

“We do give people banter — anything that is different, any time you are talked up, you are always tying to keep you on task.

“But he is a bloke that you don’t have to worry about because he is very humble, very quiet and he works very hard.

“The one thing about Maro, he doesn’t have an ego at all, which is great. We are fully aware of when the media or when people latch onto a player and bang the drum.

“We have all been there at one point. One minute you are flavour of the month, next minute you are persona non grata and should be thrown into a skip and never seen again.

“Maro’s a great player. He’s a bit of a double-edged guy — he’s quite quiet normally but he’s quite loud on the field. He’s trained extremely well.

“He’s very strong, very physical. I thought when he got his opportunity against Italy he came on and went well.

“The thing with Test rugby is that it is very difficult to come in and be unbelievably sensational because it is a step up — that very rarely happens.”