Jones salivating for ‘tasty’ England clash

Felix Jones says the Springboks aren’t paying too much attention to England’s Six Nations slump.

While Steve Borthwick’s men have stumbled with back-to-back Six Nations defeats to Scotland and Ireland, the Bok assistant coach insists there’s no crisis brewing and no complacency creeping in on the South African side.

England will open their Nations Championship campaign against the world champions at Ellis Park on 4 July, and Jones expects a heavyweight contest.

“If you look at their trajectory over the last two seasons, it’s only been going in one direction, which I’m not surprised by,” Jones said during a media briefing at Saru House on Monday.

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Borthwick’s side were on a 12-game winning streak before losing 31-20 at Murrayfield and 42-21 at Twickenham. But Jones believes context matters.

“They played against an extremely determined Irish team. Anyone who was hearing the noises coming out of the Irish camp that week …

“I think Ireland played with their backs up against the wall and were really desperate to demonstrate a performance that they were well capable of.

“And then the Scotland game – the Calcutta Cup has been one of the most contested fixtures in the Six Nations in recent years.”

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Jones, who spent time inside England’s coaching set-up after the 2023 World Cup before returning to the Boks, knows exactly what’s coming.

“If you look at their trajectory, they won 12 games in a row, now lost two in a row against some really determined teams. I think their trajectory will keep going in the way they want it to.

“The game here in July is going to be tasty.”

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