England Wins the Six Nations Again
By Nick, Sports Editor
The England Rugby team have certainly changed since their disappointing early elimination from the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The sacking of Stuart Lancaster and the introduction of Eddie Jones has turned England from the the laughing stock in the rugby world to the best team in Europe and the second best in the world, behind only the notorious All Blacks.
England had their expectations set high as they finished last Six Nations as champions and getting the “Grand Slam” (winning every game) for the first time since 2003 but their form certainly hasn’t lapsed since then.
Having not lost for over 15 months and yet to lose under Eddie Jones, the 19 game winning streak has made England one of the most formidable forces in world rugby. Due to this, England obviously came into the competition as strong favourites but pressure can sometimes weigh down on favourites as clear as the ones we saw at the start of the 2017 Six Nations.
Unfortunately for England’s opponents, this certainly wasn’t the case.
England started the tournament with a tight game that they eventually won against France 19-16 and then Wales 16-21. After this things became a little smoother, surpassing Italy 36-15 and then completely whitewashing Scotland 61-21 to win the Calcutta Cup and confirm their 2nd consecutive Six Nations victory.
At time of writing, it remains to be seen if England can match last year’s marvellous Grand Slam again this year, but taking into account the way England are playing right now, few would doubt them.
So what is next for Jones and his men?
As long as England play the way they currently are, they should find it easy to continue their brilliant winning streak, go for the Six Nations again, and possibly even win the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
If England do any or all of these things, they could possibly find themselves surpassing the All Blacks as the best national rugby team in the world sooner than some might think. This of course, is a tall order, but considering how England are playing, only a fool would say it’s impossible.