Winger Jonny May has called on England’s attack to find their best form ahead of a crunch Round 3 clash away at unbeaten Wales.
The Red Rose went into the 2021 Guinness Six Nations as defending champions, while Eddies Jones’ men also lifted the Autumn Nations Cup title late last year.
But while much of that success was attributed to the dominance of England’s pack and defence, May believes the team’s shortcomings at the other end of the pitch played a significant role in opening round Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland.
The 30-year-old notched a superb try in a 41-18 victory over Italy last time out, an encouraging attacking display which he hopes the whole team can build on in Cardiff this weekend.
Wales currently sit joint top of the standings on points following hard-fought wins over Ireland and Scotland so far, and May knows that each member of England’s squad will need to be on-song to overcome the 2019 Grand Slam winners.
“We have been working hard on our attack and it didn’t quite go right in the autumn, but when you’ve got a very dominant set-piece and a brilliant defence, you can get away with winning games,” said May, who is line to win his 64th Test cap at Principality Stadium.
“You play against Scotland and all of a sudden your set-piece is a little bit off, your dominant defence is a little bit off and you need another part of your game to get you out of trouble. But our attack was poor.
“We took a big step forward against Italy. There was a shift in the way we wanted to go about our game and the mindset of going at them, and we just want to keep building on that now.
“We’re grateful for an opportunity against a strong Wales side to go out there and really give it a good go this weekend.”
