Eddie Jones has hinted that his England side will target Jonathan Sexton when Ireland visit Twickenham on Saturday.

The Leinster out-half was shoulder-charged off the ball by France's Yoann Maestri last time out, leading to questions about the player being targeted by opposition teams.

Maestri was given a citing warning as a result but did not receive a ban, while one French rugby outlet bristled at English media suggestions that France "sought to hurt" Sexton during the Paris match two weeks ago.

"We target players all the time. That's part of rugby isn't it? I'm not saying Sexton is a weak defender, but we're going to target players because we want to win," said Jones.

Sexton has been named in Joe Schmidt's Ireland starting team for the England game.