Eddie Jones refused to address his future as England’s head coach but conceded he had “not done a good enough job” after his side ended another disappointing Six Nations campaign with a comprehensive defeat by France.
England were outscored three tries to one as France wrapped up their first title in 12 years and a grand slam to boot, leaving Jones’s side with just two wins and three defeats from the tournament for the second year in a row. Results earlier in the day ensured England finish the championship in third place in the table – an improvement on last year’s fifth-place finish – but with only three tries scored, the victory over Italy notwithstanding, Jones has come under increasing criticism as the Six Nations has worn on and questions continue to be raised over his suitability for the job.
After last year’s tournament the Rugby Football Union conducted a review into England’s performance before giving Jones its backing to continue and, with less than 18 months until the start of the 2023 World Cup, similar introspection is required at Twickenham. Asked whether he was still the best person to coach England he said: “That is not a question I need to answer. I just do my job, it is a question for other people to answer. I am not even thinking about that.”
He added: “I’m disappointed, disappointed for the fans, for the players, I obviously haven’t done a good enough job, I accept that, but we’re moving in the right direction. The results aren’t good enough. When you rebuild a team it takes time.
“France are deserved champions of the Six Nations, they are the best team, but we had enough chances to win that game, we just didn’t put them away, we were not quite clinical enough in doing that. That has been a little bit of the story of us in the Six Nations, we have put ourselves in position to win the three games we have lost but not been clinical enough, not been good enough, particularly in some of our clean out work to win those games. So that is disappointing but the spirit we showed is going to make sure this team keeps moving in the right direction.”
France were nervous in patches against Jones’s side, who did rally to 18-13 early in the second half after Freddie Steward’s score before Antoine Dupont’s try effectively settled the contest. If it was not a vintage French performance, the gulf between the two sides was evident.
“It is a great benchmark game for us,” added Jones. “We are not far away but we are far away and the effort it takes to bridge that gap is important. We have got a lot of good young players coming through and some of the older guys are starting to play some really good rugby again so we are going to have a good blend going through to the World Cup.”
Gaël Fickou scored France’s first try, rounding off a period of prolonged French pressure before François Cros added the second on the stroke of half-time. Jones highlighted that score – and the moment when England replacement Alex Dombrandt was held up over the tryline in the second half – as key moments. “There were a couple of really big moments in the game,” said Jones. “The try before half-time gave France a bit of breathing space and then we had Dombrandt held over the line. We get that and at that stage we are making the running in the game and that would have put a lot of additional pressure on France with thoughts of the grand slam.”
