| Venue: Murrayfield Stadium Date: Saturday 24 February Kick-off: 16:45 GMT |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC One; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text on BBC Sport website and app |
England cannot “blind” themselves to their weaknesses despite winning their first two Six Nations games, says defence coach Felix Jones.
Jones has implemented a ‘blitz’ defence since joining England from a similar role with world champions South Africa.
England, who have conceded more tries than they have scored in narrow victories over Italy and Wales, face Scotland at Murrayfield on 24 February.
“I wouldn’t say I’m overly happy,” Jones told BBC Sport.
“I don’t think anyone is when you’re conceding points, so it’s a work in progress. There are loads of things still to work on, but also some good bits that we want to retain.
“We are at a level where you can’t blind yourself to things that need attention, but you want to draw positives from a tournament where winning counts.”
Italy exploited England’s defence in the first half in Rome and carved them open twice to score tries through Alessandro Garbisi and Tommaso Allan.
England recovered to avoid a first defeat by Italy before showing signs of greater defensive cohesion in the victory against Wales at Twickenham.
Asked why he prefers his sides to use a blitz defence, which involves players rushing up to limit the space in which the opposition can attack, Jones said: “There are number of teams that are trying to implement higher line speed.
“Attacks are becoming so sophisticated that if you aren’t trying to exert pressure, the best teams in the world will hurt you. But there is always a balance and you can go too far sometimes.
“It’s never one thing or one player’s fault and usually it’s a chain reaction earlier down the line. It could be a loss of momentum or [poor] decision-making and often the guys on the outside channels are left to pick up the pieces.
“You treat each situation in itself and try and figure out the solutions, but you also have to approach it that for every one that goes wrong there could be one or two that go right.
“Like any defensive system, there are guidelines you want in place, but ultimately it’s down to the individuals within that in how well they tackle and make decisions. You have to push yourself to where the margins are so small and you’re right on the limit of execution.”
‘Our ambition is to win the Six Nations’
Former full-back Jones won 13 caps for Ireland as well as representing Leinster and Munster before being forced to retire at the age of 28 because of a neck injury.
The Dubliner, 36, went straight into coaching after hanging up his boots and worked under current South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus at Munster before following him into the Springboks set-up.
England were clear in their intent to recruit his meticulous skills, which helped South Africa claim back-to-back World Cup titles either side of a series win over the British and Irish Lions.
Jones says he is adapting well to life back in the northern hemisphere and working under England head coach Steve Borthwick.
“It has been great so far,” said Jones.
“The approach has been very collaborative among all the coaches. Everyone is working as hard as they can and we’re trying to find any improvement we can from a game or in training.
“The players have been awesome in terms of buying in and sharing their knowledge with what works at their clubs. There is not a session that goes by where the players are not asking questions.
“There are always differences when you cross over teams and particularly countries and cultures. There will always be changes, so it’s tough to compare.
“Our ambition is to win each game with the end goal of trying to win the Six Nations this year. But there is still a long way to go.
“Ireland and France are two of the best teams in the world consistently and Scotland too have shown they can compete at the highest level.”
