Six Nations
Eddie Jones wants no Italian player left standing
Tom Hamilton
February 13, 2016

Eddie Jones has challenged England's forwards to bully Italy's pack on Sunday to the extent not one Italian player is "left standing at the end of the game".

Jones has been bullish ahead of England's match in Rome and has already challenged his side to give Italy a "good hiding".

And on Valentine's Day, Jones wants no sensitivity from England; instead he wants his team to be brutal as they look to make it two from two in the RBS 6 Nations.

"We want to make the opposition fear us and we want to be disciplined," Jones said. "That means dominant set piece, strangulating defence and the ability to be ruthless in attack. We want to be absolutely brutal up front so there is no Italian player left standing at the end of the game.

"Then we want to be ruthless in taking opportunities -- that's what we're aiming for; it doesn't matter if it's realistic, that's our aim and that's how I want the players to think."

But despite the confidence, there is an appreciation for the threats Italy pose. Jones says it will be a "bloody tough game" and has seen improvements within the Azzurri's ranks.

Eddie Jones and Dylan Hartley
Eddie Jones and Dylan Hartley© David Rogers/Getty Images

Last weekend he lavished praise on Italy's talisman Sergio Parisse following their narrow loss to France in Paris and he predicts they will one day click in a manner similar to Argentina.

"They have got talented players and big athletic forwards," Jones said. "It's a great opportunity for Italy going forwards. They've been in the Six Nations for 16 years and they're probably disappointed with their progress that they haven't gone further.

"You look at Argentina who have been in the Rugby Championship for four years and made a considerable jump and at one stage Italy's going to get it together.

"Maybe now they've got a good bunch of young players coming through, they've gone through a generational change, that this is the time they're going to get it together."

Jones will hope that eureka moment does not occur this weekend in the Stadio Olimpico. England have never lost to Italy before in a Test and their last outing in Rome resulted in a comfortable 52-11 win for then coach Stuart Lancaster.

But Jones is giving their record short shrift. "We've no history as a team so we don't have to worry about what has happened in the past," was his view as he further emphasised the message of starting afresh.

Central to those plans is Maro Itoje, the young Saracens forward who will make his England debut if called upon from the bench.

He was compared to Martin Johnson earlier in the week while Jones vowed to turn him "from a Vauxhall Viva into a BMW" on Thursday.

England's decision to go for a six-two split on the bench also points towards Itoje's versatility while signalling Jones' hope the fresh legs in the replacements will help England close out the match in the final quarter.

"He [Itoje] could go 4,5,6,12,13," Jones said. "He's a great athlete.

"I've played flankers on the wing. Japan played against Georgia with nine forwards and six other forwards on the bench because we knew it was going to be that sort of game. Italy is going to be that sort of game.

"It is going to be a tough game up front so we want to be able to wear them out at the start of the game and then at the end of the game have fresh legs to come on and run them off their feet.

"We've got to hold our nerve, be disciplined and then the last 20 minutes of the game is when we'll get our points."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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