"We're highly motivated, and all eyes are on the prize. Next job is Ireland, we get a good win and we put ourselves in a good position" - Courtney Lawes; "There's a rub of the green here, and sometimes you get it and sometimes you don't. If we got it today, well and good" - Eddie Jones
Sunday 27 February 2022 09:00, UK
England skipper Courtney Lawes says they are 'highly motivated' to continue challenging for the Six Nations title, while Eddie Jones laughed off suggestions his side were fortunate to be awarded a try vs Wales.
Lawes returned to make his first start of this year's championship in England's 23-19 win over Wales at Twickenham on Saturday, keeping their title challenge - after defeat at Scotland in Round 1 - on track.
Alex Dombrandt scored England's only try in the victory, while Marcus Smith added six penalties with the boot.
"We're highly motivated, we know the job at hand and all eyes are on the prize at the minute," Lawes told media afterwards.
"Next job is Ireland, we get a good win there and we put ourselves in a good position."
Head coach Eddie Jones added: "All I know is that there are probably three teams who can win it and we're one of them and I'd rather be in our position than those who can't.
"Very good win for us. Plenty of resilience, plenty of toughness.
"We put ourselves in a good winning position in the first 50 minutes, had a moment there for 10, 15, 20 minutes where we were a bit untidy in our defence, let them back into the game, but then the last five or six minutes I thought we were exceptional again for a young team that's developing.
"We've got nine, 10 and 15 (Harry Randall, Smith and Freddie Steward) who have played under 10 caps, and a No 8 (Dombrandt) just out of university. They are young guys and they need to learn how to handle situations.
"I thought there were some really good signs out there tonight."
In terms of improvements, Jones pointed to England's lack of a ruthless edge in their opponents' 22.
"We got ourselves into a lot of good attacking positions and weren't able to convert that to points, which was similar to what happened against Scotland, but again for a young team we just have to find a way to be more ruthless when we get in the opposition's 22.
"We should have been more clinical when we were down there.
"Defensively, we just knocked off, particular for that quick-tap try they scored, which was disappointing. But we'll fix that."
England's only try came courtesy of Dombrandt when an overthrown Wales lineout in their own 22 fell for the No 8 to romp over.
Wales felt Maro Itoje had impeded Adam Beard, which caused the set-piece malfunction, but the incident was not looked at in any great detail by the TMO, who okayed the score.
Jones refused to get drawn into the decision in the aftermath, instead referencing the decisions which went against England in Cardiff last year.
"You'll have to ask the referee. I really don't know," Jones said.
"I don't comment on the referee, so we take the good with the bad.
"We took 14 points last year [vs Wales in Cardiff] in the Six Nations where they were allowed to play when the ball wasn't alive, and then from a blatant knock on, so there's a rub of the green here, and sometimes you get it and sometimes you don't.
"If we got it today, well and good. We're not going to complain about it, just like we didn't complain when we didn't get the rub of the green."
Wales boss Wayne Pivac was one of those to question the legality of England's decisive second-half try following his team's defeat at Twickenham.
"If we had an opportunity to review that try, it probably wouldn't have been given, so that was frustrating," Pivac said.
Asked if he thought Wales lock Beard had been pushed out of the lineout, Pivac added: "Yes, he was.
"He was chased down the lineout and bumped, which you can't do, but unfortunately it wasn't picked up and the try stands.
"The replay we've seen, there was an offence there, we thought."
After losing to Ireland in their opening game, hopes of a successful Six Nations title defence are all-but over ahead of remaining games against unbeaten leaders France and then Italy.
"The first half we were disappointed with the discipline - we gave away eight penalties at the breakdown," Pivac said.
"You can't really get a foothold in the game, and going 17-0 down wasn't the way we wanted to start in the second half. It was a very good end to the game, but a very frustrating try that we conceded.
"But to the players' credit, they got straight back on the horse and came back with two very good tries and we were right in at the death trying to win the match.
"You are always trying to build on the performance, and there is plenty to take out of that game that was pretty positive.
"In the second half, we built phases, got the ball in hand a lot more, we started to win some collisions and we looked dangerous."
