• Jones can’t resist jibes at rivals before Six Nations match• ‘They’re a niggly side – they’ve done that through the ages’
One day
England will arrive in
Scotland for a Calcutta Cup match having talked up the host nation’s beautiful scenery, wondrously fresh air and fine distilleries. Instead, under Eddie Jones, old habits still die hard and the head coach has again stirred the pre‑match broth by calling the Scots a “niggly” team who “goad” opponents into losing their cool.
Given England’s fate in
Paris, when their pledge to brutalise
France spectacularly backfired, it is tempting to ask now much Jones has learned about
British history and the perennial desire of England’s neighbours to stick the sweet chariot somewhere dark and enclosed. There could, of course, be a simpler explanation: lobbing a few jibes at Scotland is one way of diverting attention away from Sunday’s dire first-half display.