Follow our live blog as England face Scotland at Murrayfield in the Six Nations on Saturday (kick-off: 4.45pm)
Thursday 6 February 2020 22:59, UK
Eddie Jones will unleash his own 'Bomb Squad' upon Scotland at Murrayfield in the conviction England can still win the Guinness Six Nations title.
Jones has opted for a six-two split between forwards and backs for only the fifth time in his Twickenham reign, pointing to a forward-led assault to regain the Calcutta Cup surrendered at Murrayfield two years ago.
It was a tactic used to great effect by South Africa at last autumn's World Cup, including in the 32-12 demolition of England in the final, and was subsequently dubbed the 'Bomb Squad'.
Once the opposition had been softened up, the six replacement forwards would be sent on at predetermined times to ensure the physical onslaught was maintained for the full 80 minutes.
Three Springboks had 'Bomb Squad' tattoos inked on to their hips and the tracksuit mastermind of their success in Japan - Matt Proudfoot - is now in charge of England's pack.
Heavy rain is forecast for Edinburgh and Jones, who has revamped his starting XV with five changes, has pinpointed the area where Scotland can be targeted.
"I just think our strengths are up front and that's what we want to play to," Jones said.
"We've got an obvious gameplan that we want to play against them. We're not hiding from the fact that we want to take them on up front. We just think it's going to be a high volume, high-intensity game in the forwards. You want to have as much artillery in that area as you can."
Jones is "100 per cent" certain England can regain the Six Nations crown they most recently lifted in 2017 and expects his players to finish the tournament strongly knowing they were probably undercooked for the Paris opener.
"The World Cup final is a one-off final. I'm happy to say that if I went back to that game again, I can't think there's a team in the world that would have beaten South Africa that day. And that happens. No embarrassment," he said.
"France - for some reason we just weren't on the button early and I think I underprepared the team for the game, so it took us some time to get into the game.
"There is a reason for that given the workload of the players. We underprepared for the game and I take full responsibility for that. But there's a reason for that and my view is that we'll see the reason at the end of the competition - that we'll be full of running."
Jones reflected on the time he was targeted by fans after his side's Six Nations defeat to Scotland two years ago by revealing it is a regular occurrence.
Travelling back to London the day after the 25-13 Calcutta Cup loss in Edinburgh, Jones was physically and verbally abused, first by a trio of Scotland supporters at a railway station in Manchester and then on the train down to London.
Footage released online showed the group approaching the 58-year-old for a photograph as he left Manchester Oxford Road rail station to catch a waiting car before the atmosphere turned sour.
Jones had stopped off to watch Manchester United defeat Chelsea at Old Trafford as a guest of Sir Alex Ferguson, but said this time he will head straight home with the team.
"I have checked the Premier League schedule and I am not going to any games!" Jones said.
"It was a tiny incident, it wasn't of any significance. That happens every day. What do you reckon happens when I walk down the street?
"Some people say nice things, some people are into you. It happens every day. If you didn't want it you don't do this job."
