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13th March 2017
02:56pm GMT

After the November internationals, Irish fans were in buoyant mood, with many tipping Ireland as pre-tournament favourites and potential Grand Slam contenders.
Of course, as things transpired, this is clearly not the case anymore and England head-coach, Eddie Jones, provided a firm, painful reminder of Ireland's favouritism before the tournament began.
"They’re an extremely well-coached side, they’ll be grossly disappointed by their performance on Friday," Jones told the Irish Times at a media briefing today.
“I’ve just been reading all the predictions at the start of the tournament and a number of people tipped them to win the competition.
“They were favourites, they haven’t won the Six Nations and they’ll be carrying the expectation of their country to do well.”
Jones' comments are a firm punch in the gut for the players, management and fans alike.
As if we needed reminding of the disappointing campaign so far.
Of course, this is likely to be some sort of psychological game by Jones and you wonder if he is attempting to divert attention away from the pressure surrounding his own side, in their attempt to clinch a Grand Slam and a record-breaking streak of 19 Test victories.
Whatever the motives, it's bound to be an incredibly tense game on Saturday.
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