Jones sows confusion over face injury

Listening to Jones, it was hard to be completely certain how the England coach arrived at the Six Nations tournament launch in London on Wednesday sporting a badly bruised face.

The Australian, who has won all 13 of his matches in charge of England, since taking over following the 2015 World Cup, cut a distinctive figure with a wound dressing around his left eye, which was bruised.

Jones indicated the injury had arisen during England's recent training camp in Portugal.

"We've had a bit of fun in the Algarve, we've had a really good training camp," he said in a TV interview.

"It's just one of those things. I slipped over and got hit, nothing too drastic."

Asked who had hit him, Jones replied: "I don't know, I'll have a look at the video later."

But Jones, who delights in sparring with the media, had a somewhat more prosaic version of efforts when speaking to newswire and online reporters at London's Hurlingham Club later on Wednesday.

Always ready with a quip, the former Australia and Japan coach joked about his injuries by referring to England's martial arts-training sessions.

"So first we had judo then we had MMA [mixed martial arts]. We're just going through all the martial arts and seeing what happened on the body," Jones said.

"I just slipped over in the hotel this morning," the 56-year-old added.

"My mother always told me I had to shave, I walked out of the shower, forgot to shave and this is what happens."

England, who won the Six Nations with a Grand Slam last season, begin the defence of their title against France at Twickenham on February 4.

Agence France-Presse