England beat Georgia 40-0 in Autumn Nations Cup opener to register fifth successive win; Eddie Jones' side face Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday; Jones: "Ireland will be cock‑a‑hoop after their big win against Wales so they'll come with plenty of confidence and swagger"
Sunday 15 November 2020 12:56, UK
Eddie Jones has described England's Autumn Nations Cup game against Ireland as their most important game of the year.
Both teams recorded big wins in their opening fixtures, Ireland beating Wales 32-9 in Dublin on Friday night before England whitewashed Georgia 40-0 at Twickenham.
"We realise the Ireland game is going to be the most important game of the year," said Jones, whose side have been comprehensive winners in their last three matches against Ireland, including a 24-12 victory at Twickenham during this year's Six Nations.
"We'll go away and have a good preparation. Ireland will be cock‑a‑hoop after their big win against Wales so they'll come with plenty of confidence and swagger."
Jamie George scored a hat-trick against Georgia, becoming the first England hooker to achieve that feat in a Test match.
Debutant Jack Willis, Elliot Daly and Dan Robson also crossed and Jones conceded the final score should have been more emphatic.
"Georgia produced a challenge in the set-piece and our set-piece cohesion was absolutely outstanding," said Jones.
"We probably would have liked to have been a bit sharper in terms of our execution with the ball we won.
"We probably left another 20 points out there, but we are pretty happy with the display. I was delighted with the resolve and attitude of the side.
"Ireland will be a completely different game. I'd like us to execute a bit better."
Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray admits a repeat of the performance which comfortably dispatched Wales will be insufficient to defeat England.
Ireland's dominant Dublin success - in a game pockmarked by penalties - was a welcome return to winning ways after they agonisingly missed out on the Six Nations title following a costly loss to France.
"We know already that that won't be good enough at Twickenham but we've got to be realistic, we took a step forward," said Murray.
"There's a good feeling in the dressing room, especially that we left a little bit out there and we can make that extra improvement that we will need to do to play at Twickenham and to get a result.
"We know we've great potential in this team and I think everyone is searching to reach that, which is exciting."
