Courtney Lawes insists England are not looking past Italy to the prospect of winning a third straight Six Nations title.
England will become the first team in history to win the Six Nations in three consecutive years if they finish top of the pile in March.
However, Lawes insists England's focus remains solely on their opening game of this year's tournament, against Italy on February 4.
When asked if he had given any thought to the potential hat-trick of titles for England, Lawes said: "No, honestly. That is a long way away and we've got a good few games to get through to achieve that.
"That is a goal at the end of a process. We're thinking about Italy and that is our main focus right now."
England begin their title defence in Rome on Sunday and Lawes insists Eddie Jones' side are not underestimating Italy, who have finished bottom of the table in the last two years.
"No game is easy. Honestly, on any given day any team can produce an upset or an unbelievable performance," said Lawes. "You never know what team is going to turn up.
"We have got to keep our eyes on the prize and make sure that we are prepared for Italy."
Leicester fly-half George Ford is also preparing himself for a bruising encounter at the Stadio Olimpico.
"We are expecting a really tough game, a really tough challenge," he said. "They are a very passionate nation, they are going to be at home, it's the first game of the Six Nations, so we're taking all of that into consideration.
"It will be tough but our mindset is to focus on ourselves and make sure we can achieve what we want to achieve in terms of intensity and our game plan."
Italy's refusal to form rucks caused havoc in the reverse fixture at Twickenham last year and Ford says England are well prepared to deal with more unorthodox tactics from the Azzurri.
"We've spoken about different scenarios, what could happen in the game, different situations could arise that we have to deal with," said Ford.
"But we do that before every game. We try to stay mentally sharp so we are able to adapt and adjust on the field."