“Danny, Joe Marler and Joe Launchbury will all have a significant roles to play to finish the game”.
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Mako Vunipola, he of wonderful sleight of hand, is in at prop, while Courtney Lawes comes into the second row.
It was Vunipola’s smart off-load that acted as the catalyst for Jack Nowell’s crucial try, a score that swept England clear to launch the Jones era with a solid but unspectacular win. The 21-year-old is an athletic lock who captained the Under-20s to victory in the 2014 Junior World Championship and has been in magnificent form for Saracens this season.
Jones’ plan is to subdue an Azzurri team emboldened by last weekend’s narrow defeat in Paris before cutting loose in the final quarter when the expected arrival of Danny Care, Maro Itoje and Jack Clifford will provide renewed energy.
“We are confident we can go to Rome and win, but we’re in no doubt of the challenge we face”.
“Italy’s No. 9 and No. 10 are very threatening”, he said.
“Josh Beaumont and Ollie Devoto will also travel with the squad to give them an opportunity to gain experience of Test match rugby”.
“He’s like a Vauxhall Viva now, we want to make him into a BMW”.
“He’s a Vauxhall Viva – he’s got a good chassis on him, he’s got four wheels, he can move but he’s got a lot of work to do”.
When asked if Itoje will get some miles on the clock on Sunday, Jones replied: “It’s a possibility”.
Speaking ahead of the trip to Rome, Jones believes the changes will suit the type of game England will be looking to play to see off what is likely to be a resilient Italy side. Joe Marler, 18. Paul Hill, 19. “We want to tire out their tight five, so we want to play the game through the forwards early and for the second half we want fresh legs to rely on”. “We have seen that already in the Six Nations”. A 41-point rout in 2014 was a highlight, but on each of the three prior visits they have won by five points or fewer. “It’s a good place to start”, Jones said. “He understands young guys will be young guys, they are going to do silly things, but if your performance is there what you do off the field is your responsibility”, says Wing. “That is a relationship between myself, the man putting it in and the rest of the pack trying to take us forward, because when you are moving forward it is so much easier to do”.
“More than the points I scored or the compliments I received, I’m thinking about the two kicks and the penalty I missed: in my position, that’s unacceptable”.
“Eddie only joined up with us a couple of weeks before we went to France, but his impact was immediate”, explains centre Jean de Villiers, who was part of the squad.
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Jones has spoken about rediscovering England’s traditional strengths of “a strong set-piece”, a “strong defence” and, above all, a “bulldog spirit” to get their chariot back on the road, although he will have less access to his players than he did with Japan.
