Jonny May’s stunning hat-trick inspired England to a big win over France at Twickenham and Eddie Jones compared his indefatigable winger to a dog chasing a tennis ball.
May certainly showed an incredible desire to get to the ball first throughout the 44-8 triumph – two of his three tries coming as he touched down kicks in behind the French defence and the attacking platform for the other being set by another grubber through.
France’s starting back three of Yoann Huget, Damian Penaud and Gael Fickou had no answer to England’s aerial bombardment into the acres of space as the six-try victory sent the hosts top of the Guinness Six Nations table.
Having scored inside two minutes in the Round One victory over Ireland – a trick he repeated against Les Bleus – May now has four tries in two games, already just three short of Jacob’s Stockdale’s Championship record.
Chris Ashton also impressed on the other wing after coming in for Jack Nowell and while Jones is ecstatic with the depth he has at the position, he reserved particular praise for his hard-working hat-trick hero.
“Jonny May is like the dog in the park, chasing after the tennis ball at 100mph and bringing it back,” said Jones at his post-match press conference. “He does that very well.
“He’s really worked hard on his game. Jonny May is one of the hardest-working guys in our team. He works hard on his high-ball catching, he works hard at his chasing, he works hard at his physical condition and his improvement is all due to his desire to be the best.
“Chris Ashton was excellent as well and we’ve got good competition for those spots. We’ve got big Joe [Cokanasiga] coming back [from injury] next week, Jack Nowell came off the bench and did superbly for us, so it’s a competitive area.
“Going back to Jonny May – that’s what drives the desire of Jonny to be better because he knows he has to in order to stay in the side.”
TARGETING IMPROVEMENTS
England now have two bonus-point wins from two in this year’s Guinness Six Nations, with the manner of victory over France perhaps even more impressive than the brilliant away win in Dublin last weekend.
But ever the perfectionist, and worryingly for Wales ahead of the Round Three showdown in Cardiff, Jones insists there is more to come from his in-form side.
“When you put yourself in the position of having a bonus point inside 30 minutes against a top team, you’ve done pretty well,” added Jones.
“The second half I thought our performance was even better. Even though we didn’t score as many points, our focus and discipline to keep France scoreless was outstanding.
“But I felt we probably left 15 to 20 points on the field so there’s a lot more in this team and we’re committed to being the very best we can be.
“When we get back together on Wednesday, we’ll start the process of how we can get better again.”
