Eddie Jones wants his ‘new England’ to take a step forward in Rome

Eddie Jones is determined for his “new England” project to take a step forward by showing their ruthless streak at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

England are aiming to bounce back from their 20-17 defeat to Scotland which, even at this early stage of the Guinness Six Nations, has left them on the fringe of the title picture.

Italy are expected to slump to a 34th consecutive defeat in the Championship and Jones wants young stars such as Marcus Smith, Alex Dombrandt and Harry Randall to continue evolving the gameplan.

“We need to be able to play the old England way and the new England way. And what we are trying to develop is this new England way of playing,” Jones said.

“That’s about being aggressive, about taking opportunities as they avail themselves and getting on the front foot against the opposition.

“We’ve got massive development in this team. It’s a very young squad but I think it’s going to be a very good squad and even now it’s a good team.

“As younger players gain more experience, we get the right combinations in place and they get the cohesion in the combinations, we don’t know where the team can go.”

Joe Marler has remarked that following the setback in Edinburgh there has been “much less in-house bitching as there may have been in the past” and Jones has been impressed by the way England have united.

The Australian head coach knows there is an important equilibrium to strike, however, as he looks to captain Tom Curry to take the lead on maintaining the squad’s morale in the absence of Owen Farrell and Courtney Lawes.

“Players always have their views and I’m not saying they’re wrong, but they tend to see things in an extreme way – the team’s either really happy or unhappy,” Jones said.

“From a coaching