England's rugby coach Eddie Jones is planning to use the loss of several key players to the British and Irish Lions' squad in New Zealand this year as an opportunity to build depth ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
With a number England players likely to be included in the Lions squad bidding to beat the All Blacks for the first time since 1971, Jones will be forced to make changes during the November internationals to avoid burnout.
England coach Eddie Jones. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"The only part of 2017 I can really control is the Six Nations, all our focus is on that. Post Six Nations we are going to lose 10 to 15 of our players to the Lions," Jones told the Daily Mail.
"Maybe those players won't play for us in the November (internationals) because they will have played probably twice the number of post-season games they will normally have played. We don't have to rest them.
"But speaking to a number of players who have been on Lions tours, they found those November matches to be the hardest - so I think we have to be smart about it. I look on 2017 as a massive opportunity to increase the depth of the squad."
Australian Jones has extended England's run to 14 successive victories, four short of the record the All Blacks set last year before losing to Ireland.
- Reuters
