Eddie Jones declares his England intentions

Eddie Jones once said his idea of retirement was watching cricket in the Caribbean so it was no surprise when the Australian used the summer sport as a reference point when explaining why his first England side might be shorn of debutants come next month’s Six Nations opener away to Scotland.

“I always think about when Australia played test cricket against the West Indies when they had those four pace bowlers and were seriously good,” said Jones, who included seven uncapped players in his first England squad announced this week.

“You wouldn’t want to put a new batsman against those four quicks on a fast pitch like Perth. Murrayfield will be a tough game.”

Just as happened four years ago, England have responded to a disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign by sacking their coach and leaving the new man with a potentially tricky Calcutta Cup clash in Edinburgh as his first match.

But there end the similarities between Jones, the first foreigner to coach England, and predecessor Stuart Lancaster.

Jones is an established international coach – he was in charge of the Australia side beaten by England in the 2003 World Cup final and guided Japan to a shock win over South Africa at last year’s edition.

By contrast, the England role was Lancaster’s first major appointment. And while he got the job after a World Cup in which England lost in the quarter-finals, his team could not even reach the knockout phase.