Eddie Jones sets sight on defending Six Nations title after successful 2016

Eddie Jones has guided England to a clean sweep of victories this autumn
Eddie Jones has guided England to a clean sweep of victories this autumn
©PA

England coach Eddie Jones wants his team to have the most "dominant scrum" as he now sets his sight on the Six Nations title defence next year.

Under Jones, England had stupendous success in 2016 after they clinched the Grand Slam for the first time in 13 years during the Six Nations, whitewashed Wallabies 3-0 for the first time in Australia and also won all the four matches in their autumn internationals.

England also enjoyed an unbeaten streak in 2016 and now have extended their winning run to 14 consecutive matches (13 under Jones) that has levelled the record set by Sir Clive Woodward's 2003 World Cup winning team.

The 56-year-old has already started to focus on the upcoming Six Nations tournament in February next year.

"The Six Nations, in my limited experience of it, is a different competition to the autumn," Jones said.

"Being an outsider to the Six Nations, I thought there was an absolute fear of losing rather than wanting to win. What we want to do in the Six Nations is go out there and win it.

"Also, you get the guys coming back having played three or four weeks of European rugby and they're in a fatigued state.

"You've got to find a way to regenerate them and get them used to playing international rugby.

"The only thing I'm interested in now is winning the Six Nations and to win the Six Nations we need more consistency in our set piece.

"I want to have the most dominant scrum. The scrum in the Six Nations is enormously important so we want that dominance."

Jones also had a clear message to the England players on Sunday and further cautioned them that their performance with the clubs will be closely monitored.

"If you don't keep performing, you won't be in the team," said Jones, who will finalise his selection for the Championship at the end of the month.

"No one owns an English jersey, you borrow the jersey for 80 minutes. You're lucky to get it again, you have to work hard to get it and if you don't have the right attitude, then you won't get it.

"If players aren't hungry and you see it in their performance straight away, then they won't be here. We have enough depth to change the squad if we need to.

"There's a tipping point in the team when you get six, seven, eight players with that absolute desire to want to do well then if you're not in that group, you tend to fall out.

"That's how great teams keep on getting better. We haven't got that tipping point yet but we're moving towards it.

"The team is a dynamic organism and it has its own life so you just have to keep doing the right things, keep doing the right processes and do the bits and pieces and it'll come together."

Jones also had high praises for Saracens star Owen Farrell, who made his presence felt in every game for England under the former Wallabies coach.

Recently he suffered from a back injury which forced him to miss a number of matches for his Aviva Premiership club Saracens but managed to recover in time for England's autumn internationals.

Jones stated that the 25-year-old is a vital cog in this England set-up and urged him to continue evolving.

"Owen is the spirit of the team. He's an absolute competitor and always wants to do things well," Jones said.

"He hasn't been at his best this autumn - it's quite clear he's still recovering from his back injury. I'd say he's probably been at 80 per cent of his total fitness.

"To win those four Tests when your inside centre is nowhere near his best is a pretty good effort. He's enormous for us. He's the standard bearer.

"He's always been a fantastic player. I knew him from when I was at Saracens. I signed him to the academy there, because I knew he had a massive potential and a competitive desire - like his dad.

"He played a trial against Toulon when he was only about 16 and nine months and Sonny Bill Williams was making his debut for Toulon.

"Owen got the ball and Sonny Bill Williams whacked him and stood over the top of him.

"He just bounced up on his feet and continued on like nothing had happened. You could tell he was going to be a good player."