Jones eyes Triple Crown to deny England streak

Stormers centre Huw Jones could start for Scotland against England on Saturday. Photo: Reuters/Russell Cheyne Livepic

Stormers centre Huw Jones could start for Scotland against England on Saturday. Photo: Reuters/Russell Cheyne Livepic

Published Mar 8, 2017

Share

LONDON, England - England stand on the brink of history ahead of Saturday's Calcutta Cup tie but Scotland centre Huw Jones is excited about the prospect of throwing a spanner in the works.

Eddie Jones' side are looking to equal New Zealand's world-record 18-match winning streak at Twickenham but his namesake in the Scotland midfield does not intend to play a supporting role.

The South Africa-based centre admits the chance to go down in Scottish rugby folklore as the team that denied England their place in the history books is added motivation on top of the chance to win the Triple Crown.

"It's not so much daunting, it's quite exciting," the 23-year-old said. "It's a massive opportunity. That's one of the big incentives, to stop their run.

"They have done really well to get to this point but I wouldn't say it's daunting. It's quite exciting to have that opportunity.

"That is the end goal, we want to win the game, and winning the game will end their run.

"We will be thinking about that. Obviously it won't be our sole focus, we will be looking at the tactical side of it and what we can do. It's not just going to be motivational and emotional. But that is what we want to do."

Scotland have their sights set on their own momentous achievement having turned around their Six Nations fortunes this year.

Vern Cotter's team have beaten both Ireland and Wales for the first time since their 1999 title win in the last Five Nations, and have the chance to claim their first Triple Crown for 27 years.

Jones only joined the Scotland set-up on last year's summer tour of Japan and the Stormers player has already noticed a difference in the mind set.

"There's just an extra bit of positivity," he said. "We have still got the same hunger we had at the beginning of the tournament.

"We set our goals, we didn't shout about it, but we knew what we wanted to do. We have had two good wins but we are looking to kick on now. There is a lot of enthusiasm and the hunger is still there. The camp is more positive."

Scotland's confidence was boosted further when their victory over Wales pushed them up to an all-time high of fifth in the world rankings.

"As a group, and personally as well, it makes us enormously proud that we have achieved something that hasn't been achieved before," Jones said. "It's a big honour and it just shows there are exciting times coming from this squad."

And the Leith-born back feels England will take notice of their improving status.

"I think traditionally, not just England, maybe the other teams have even gone into Six Nations thinking that Scotland might be an easy game," said Jones, who moves to Glasgow Warriors in the summer.

"Over the last couple of years, and this season especially, I think we have managed to change that mind-set. I don't think they will be thinking it's going to be an easy game."

The Independent

Related Topics: