Thursday 5 May 2016 19:42, UK
England forward George Kruis says improvement is key for England as they look ahead to a three-Test tour of Australia.
Kruis was speaking ahead of the Old Mutual Wealth Cup match between England and Wales on 29 May, live on Sky Sports.
The two sides will do battle for the first time since England avenged their World Cup loss with a 25-21 win at Twickenham during the Six Nations, and Kruis is relishing the prospect of facing his country's old rivals as they aim to build on their Grand Slam heroics.
"Definitely upped the stakes with a game against Wales," said Kruis. "We'll be looking to take that momentum we had from the back of the Six Nations straight into that.
"You look at how we left the Six Nations out in France, everyone was pretty happy that we completed that job but it's been drilled into us that we know we're not our finished product.
"We're far from world class at the moment, we've got a long way to go and we're looking forward to getting out there on the field.
"The first thing we wanted was to be improving each week, and come the end of the Six Nations we were definitely improving, and we'll just take that forward."
Eddie Jones will be in the Sky Sports News studios to talk to us about the Wales game and the subsequent tour of Australia, and Kruis believes the coach will hold nothing back when talking about the players.
"He's given us gentle reminders of what we need to work on, how we need to keep improving. At the end of the day that's all we've got to do, keep improving.
"We're a young squad, we all know we're not the finished product.
"He knows we're a young, eager group. We're willing to learn, we've still got that hunger and that passion within us, I think he plays on that a bit.
"He's a good coach and he's got a good coaching staff behind him, so it's an interesting prospect for us.
"He plays his mind games," Kruis added with a smile.
Before Kruis puts on the England jersey he has club commitments with Saracens, who are flying high. They will finish the regular Premiership season as top seeds, earning them a home semi-final, and have a Champions Cup final against Racing 92 to look forward to.
Kruis points to the depth of the squad as the main contributor to the strong season.
"When we went to the Six Nations, the guys did a hell of a job of putting up a front and keeping us in the top four, and now a lot of the players are back and we're just massively excited to play these big games."
"We've put some much into it as a squad, as coaches and backroom staff; it's a whole team approach and hopefully we can pay that off in the next couple of weeks.
"You've got to work [Racing 92] out first, there will definitely be a big week of preparation coming into it. We pride ourselves on training well and playing well - there will be a big sense of that.
"It's a proper squad effort, it's not just the 15 out there on the field. The amount of players we've used this whole season has been incredible, and everyone's played a part.
"It's been a fantastic season for us in that sense."
