Eddie Jones targeting Ireland weaknesses for Six Nations opener

England get their Six Nations campaign underway next week against the reigning champions

Eddie Jones has said he will be looking to target Ireland’s weaknesses when his England side launch their Six Nations campaign against the reigning champions next weekend.

After ending a difficult year with a series of encouraging performances in the autumn internationals, England travel to Dublin with a point to prove against the Irish.

It was in the final clash of last year’s Championship that Joe Schmidt’s men consigned England to a humiliating 24-15 defeat at Twickenham – a result that capped off a miserable Six Nations campaign for Jones’ side and ushered in the start of a difficult summer for the team.

But after bouncing back at the end of 2018, winning three out of four of their autumn Tests, England will be eager to take this form into what will be a crucial Six Nations ahead of the World Cup later this year.

Victory against the No 2 team in the world will be hard to come by – England’s last victory in Dublin stretches back to February 2013 – but Jones knows what needs to be done next Saturday.

“Any team has got weaknesses,” he said. “There is not a football, rugby, NFL team in the world that does not have a weakness. We saw that Leeds guy (Marcelo Bielsa) show the analysis that most teams do. That was impressive that press conference.

“There are always weaknesses in teams: you have to be good enough to exploit it. We will come up with some areas we think we can attack them in, we will practice them and have to be good enough to execute them.”

In terms of what he expects from the Irish, Jones said: “They’ll have a fairly predictable, methodical game and then they’ll have few surprises. A few set moves and a few two phase sequence plays where they’ll try to surprise us."

He added: “We’re expecting a physical game, we’re preparing for a physical game. I’m sure Ireland are as well. Brutal? I haven’t seen a Six Nations game that’s not brutal. That’s the game we play.”

For Jones, Saturday’s showdown with Ireland comes down to balance as he dismissed suggestions that England’s reliance on physicality could undermine their cause.

“You are always looking to get a balanced approach to your game,” he said. “You never go into a game thinking you’re going to win it just by being more physical because if they stop that route you have to have other options.

“You’re always looking to pick a team that can play a number of different ways. We play a game that’s played on the gainline. You win the gainline generally you win the game. There’s no secret to that.”