Eddie Jones “absolutely” rules out leading Lions to NZ

England head coach has said “absolutely no” to the suggestion that he could be appointed to coach the British and Irish Lions in next year’s tour to New Zealand.

The England head coach has taken a team that was knocked out of the world cup at the Pool stage to being the team ranked second by World Rugby.

Under Jones England have won their first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2003 and on Saturday they won their first historic series over Australia with a match to play.

In November last year when Jones took charge of England they were ranked eighth and now they are second which has led to speculation that Jones could be appointed to lead the Lions in 2017.

Jones said that he was flattered to be considered for the position but his focus is entirely on England.

“I am honoured to be thought of in that area but I have a massive commitment to England and the RFU and I can’t afford to spend any time away from the team,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“While it might be nice to do it professionally, my job is to make England the best in the world and I am going to do that 100 per cent.

“So unfortunately, I am unavailable for the Lions. Absolutely no. We have improved but we want to keep on improving and we will not be happy until we get to number one in the world.

“I can’t ask for more but we want more. We want to be the best in the world.”