Joe Launchbury has high hopes for 'new-look' England under Eddie Jones

New heights: Joe Launchbury is shooting for the stars under Eddie Jones
(David Rogers/Getty Images)
Julian Bennetts20 January 2016

Joe Launchbury admits the World Cup disappointment will hang over every England player but says the performances of Aviva Premiership sides in Europe shows they can hit new heights under Eddie Jones.

The Wasps lock was a mainstay in Stuart Lancaster’s side as they crashed out at the pool stage and is set to be in Jones’s team for the trip to Murrayfield on February 6.

Jones named his Six Nations squad last week and with 19 of the 33 players aged 25 or under, Launchbury is adamant they can prove themselves before the 2019 World Cup. That view has been reinforced by the performances of the English sides in the Champions Cup. Wasps hope to join Saracens and Leicester in the last eight this weekend, with Northampton and Exeter also chasing quarter-final spots.

And Launchbury is confident England are ready to forget a disastrous 2015 and gel under Jones’s new-look coaching set-up.

“The World Cup will always be a disappointment for everyone involved,” said the lock. “It will always hang over us to a certain extent. But it is a new time now. I just think you have to look at the way guys are playing in the Premiership, and the standard in it. Also, performances from the English teams in Europe point to English rugby being in a healthy position at the moment.

“It is a really young team. But it is important we are a young team who can perform. That will be our job now, when we get into camp this weekend. In a short space of time we need to get up to speed and understand how Eddie and the coaches want to play.”

Launchbury has even been tipped for the captaincy but the 24-year-old has no idea where he is in Jones’s pecking order. “I am just hugely excited to be named in the squad,” he said. “You never quite know where you stand when a new coach and staff come in but I am excited about being involved. It is a new time for English rugby.”

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