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'They pulled our pants down badly last year'
By Peter Thompson
Eddie Jones says the last weekend of the Six Nations "will be like a Grand Final" after England hammered hapless Italy 57-14 to leave Wales with only a one-point lead.
Manu Tuilagi and Brad Shields scored two tries apiece, while Jamie George, Jonny May, Dan Robson and George Kruis also dotted down in a rout at Twickenham on Saturday.
Wales beat Scotland 18-11 earlier in the day to stay on course for a Grand Slam - they can complete a clean sweep in this season's tournament if they get the better of defending champions Ireland in Cardiff next Saturday.
Jones is looking forward to what promises to be a thrilling finale, with England eyeing a fourth bonus-point win of the campaign when they take on Scotland after Wales and Ireland have locked horns.
He told ITV Sport: "Next week will be like a Grand Final, it'll be exciting. We cannot control what happens in the other game, but we can control what happens against Scotland.
"We know this is their game.
"This is the one game they get themselves up for.
"They pulled our pants down badly last year, we've got some work to do to make sure we finish the game [next week] with our pants up."
England ran riot after the disappointment of their defeat to Wales a fortnight ago, though head coach Jones says there is still room for improvement.
"Yes, it was a good response after Wales. We left a bit out there, there’s a bit of disappointment with certain aspects but we are looking forward to Scotland," he added.
"I don't think I coached the side very well against Wales, I was filthy about that - I let the players down."
"We used the whole 23 today, we could have used the finishers better against Wales, and that was my fault, but they all made a contribution today.
"Ben Te'o and Manu Tuilagi are good players, and Joe Cokanasiga is only going to improve. We are so blessed to have Brad Shields and Mark Wilson who can play six, there is great competition for places for next week."
England vs Italy by the numbers:
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Latest Comments
Luke Cowan-Dickie i'd assume
Go to commentswe need a damaging 12 that takes 2 men to tackle that will take pressure off the 10 while also creating space for the 10 and 13 . Leicester is the only guy that fits the mould . The next thing is " will he be able to develop a good offload " ? .
for 13 Joey manu has more x factor then reiko and jordie put togeather . he's got one season in japan before he looks to come home . he's a dark horse but his skill set is something the All Blacks don't have . if he comes home and lights up the npc in a game or 2 , id love to see him fast tracked and come off the bench for the All Blacks and thrown into the deep end to see if he can swim . Just to see if he's worth the time and effort to develop further . We all saw how good sualii did for the wallabies and joey manu is just as good as sualii . He's safe under the high ball , a solid defender , has a master offload , and he's fast and strong .
he fits the mould for razor's offload tactics .
Plus reiko and jordie have had the 12 & 13 for how long and I haven't seen anything special from either of them .
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