Eddie Jones looks to Jonathan Joseph in Six Nations glory hunt as Ireland loom for England

While Eddie Jones has a “pretty good idea” of his squad for a crucial Six Nations clash against Ireland in a fortnight, there is a pretty good chance Jonathan Joseph will be in his starting XV.

England, who flopped out of the World Cup as hosts last autumn, saw Joseph score three second-half tries on his second consecutive start as Jones’ men followed last week’s battling 15-9 win over Scotland at Murrayfield with a 40-9 dismantling of Italy in Rome.

Having escaped the injuries so dreaded against the usually physical Italians, England are now set for two weeks of intense focus on beating Ireland in a fortnight.

“We’ve had two games and two wins and no major injuries, so we’re sailing along pretty well at the moment,” said Jones, who became England’s first foreign head coach when he replaced Stuart Lancaster in the wake of their World Cup flop.

England have finished runners-up in the last four Six Nations and are set to welcome an Irish side bent on atoning for an opening draw with Wales and Saturday’s 10-9 defeat to France in Paris.

But Jones, sounding jovial and bullish after a much-improved second-half performance saw Bath’s Joseph score his maiden England hat-trick, says he has already seen enough to know the nucleus of his matchday squad.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea in my head at the moment,” said the Australian.