Don’t get distracted.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt says they must not get distracted by England boss Eddie Jone and his “mind games” ahead of next month’s Six Nations Championship

Jones has been up to his old tricks of late, playing down their chances because of England’s current injury problems. Jones claims they have “no hope” of reclaiming their title.

Schmidt however, says he knows Eddie all too well, having coached against him in Super Rugby, and for the last two Six Nations.

“I know Eddie is excited about the people he’s got, he’s just not telling you that,” said Schmidt

“It must be on the back of having 12 teams to select from and the eight days he’s had in camp as opposed to us having three.

“I know Eddie from old, and I know he’s going to throw in the odd grenade, and fair play to him for doing it. It keeps us on our toes.

“We’ve got to come up with some clever riposte, but we’re not clever enough to do it well.

“We’ve got 13 players injured, missing some senior guys, like Sean O’Brien, and Jared Payne (who was) pivotal to us the last time we won the Six Nations, and he’s only played once in the last year.

“You can always reflect on who you’re missing. You can reflect on that but you’ve got to focus on who you’ve got.”