'Not a huge leap' — George insists lacklustre England are contenders after narrow Wales win

Red Rose captain is adamant his side has what it takes to win Six Nations in spite of again failing to find fireworks 

THUMBS UP: England's Jamie George following the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London. Pic: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire.

England’s captain, Jamie George, says his unbeaten side can be genuine Six Nations title contenders despite the stiffer challenges still awaiting them. Having squeezed past Wales and Italy by two and three points respectively, England now have to go to Scotland and France, and face an in-form Ireland at Twickenham, but George believes his squad could yet rise to the challenge.

“I don’t think it is a huge leap,” said George, whose squad had won only three of their previous 10 home games. “Obviously we have got three difficult games coming up but I don’t think we are in a place to say it needs to be a quantum leap to get a load better. We are two from two and we know we have got a huge amount of growth left in the squad so our focus is on making sure we optimise that. The fight and the character, to come out on the positive end of that result, is a huge step for us.”