Eddie Jones delighted as England 'flick the switch'

CRUNCH TACKLE: Ireland’s Chris Farrell stops England’s Elliot Daly in his tracks during the Autumn Nations Cup clash at Twickenham. England coach Eddie Jones was pleased with improvements he saw from the win over Ireland nine months earlier. Picture: Matt Impey

It is a time-honoured mantra in sport that if you’re standing still, you’re going backwards and while Andy Farrell is striving to catch Ireland up to Test rugby’s top three in the world, Eddie Jones is on a parallel mission to get England to number one.

Head coach Farrell was at pains last week to contrast how much his young Ireland side are at an earlier stage in their journey than England are under Jones. The former defence coach under Joe Schmidt is just 12 months at the helm since succeeding his ex-boss at the end of 2019 while Jones has had five years since replacing Stuart Lancaster and a backroom staff including Farrell after a disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign on home soil.