England coach Eddie Jones insists his side are ready to “go after” Ireland in a Six Nations “semi-final” at Twickenham on Saturday.

Defeat for either side in the penultimate round would effectively end their title hopes, with France bidding to go one step nearer a Grand Slam away to Wales in Cardiff on Friday. 

“We’ve been looking at this game as a semi-final,” said Jones, whose side finish the competition against France in Paris on 19 March. The Irish have not won at Twickenham since 2018, but they are fancied to end that run after scoring 16 tries in their opening three games of this season’s Six Nations compared to England’s seven.

“We’re more concerned about ourselves, mate,” Jones told reporters when asked for his thoughts on an Ireland team captained by veteran flyhalf Johnny Sexton.

” I went to the coffee shop yesterday and the girl says, ‘That Irish team must be good, all their ex-players think they’re going to win the game and all the ex-England players think they’re going to win the game. They must be a pretty good team. How you feeling?’ 

“I said, ‘Just give me the coffee, please’,” said Jones with a grin.

He added: “I’m not a bookmaker, mate, I’m a coach. All I’m worried about is my team playing well. We’re prepared and we’re going to go after them, mate. When you’re playing against a team that has to basically [just] jump out of the barrier [starting stalls] and win, then you’ve got to make sure your horse is ready to go. 

“All I’ve been doing is trying to get my horse ready to go.”

© Agence France-Presse