Eddie Jones happy for England to be called arrogant

Eddie Jones insists he does not care if England are perceived as arrogant ahead of his maiden Six Nations campaign.

Former Australia and Japan head coach Jones will oversee his first match since succeeding Stuart Lancaster when England take on Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

While Lancaster was keen to downplay any suggestion of conceit within his squad, instead opting to promote a more humble approach, Jones takes a different view.

"Arrogance is only bad when you lose," he said.

"If you are winning and you are arrogant then it is self-belief. We're going to believe we are going to be the best team in the world. If that's being arrogant then it is being arrogant. To me it is belief about what we can be.

"We are a side that is going to prepare well for Test matches, we are going to believe we can win Test matches and are going to believe that we are going to be the best team in the world.

"I am quite happy for the players to talk about that because that is the way we are going to think."

Jones had previously claimed England were underdogs for Saturday's Calcutta Cup match, a suggestion rejected by Scotland coach Vern Cotter.

"I know he was upset about that so I apologise to Vern. If you want me to write a letter, I'll write a letter of apology," Jones joked.

"We're happy to be favourites. We've had a good preparation and we'll go in there confident about playing well."