Three-time Guinness Six Nations winner Sir Clive Woodward held nothing back in his praise of Eddie Jones – claiming the current England boss ‘has got his mojo back’ after their impressive victory in Le Crunch.
England followed up their statement Round One win in Dublin with a six-try triumph over France on home soil and are sitting pretty at the top of the Guinness Six Nations table at the close of Round Two.
And after England’s fifth-place finish in last year’s Championship, Woodward – a Grand Slam winner in 2003 – was delighted to see a peerless response.
“He’s got his mojo back completely,” he told ITV.
“I think he’s just regrouped; the last two games were amazing. I gave him a 10/10 against Ireland and today was 9/10.
“To come back with all the pressure on them and play so well, but also the variety. They really are doing their homework and executing so well.
“England are in a really good place. It’s the players: (Kyle) Sinckler, (Mark) Wilson, (Tom) Curry – three new players are standing out today. The game in two weeks’ time is an amazing opportunity for this team.”
A Jonny May hat-trick inside the first half-hour of the contest swung things firmly in England’s favour as they built up a lead that they would not relinquish.
It was a performance that left the winger’s namesake purring in the TV studio, as Jonny Wilkinson hailed May’s display.
“I think he’s reading the game a lot more from a wing position, which is great,” he said.
“He’s playing a huge part in decisions being made by being in the right place. It must be fabulous to have speed like that – I’ll never know!
“You just don’t want to be defending a guy like that; you almost want to sprint up and hedge your bets because if you hang around you’re already two yards behind.
“The vision is clearly not just in the nine and ten role at the moment, it’s all across the team.”
Round Three of the Championship returns to your screens after the bye week.
Saturday sees France host Scotland and England travel to Wales before on Sunday Ireland travel to Italy.
And the ITV cameras will be in Rome for that clash as the defending Grand Slam champions look to continue their revival.
