England ‘struggling’ after surrendering crown

Eddie Jones is backing his ‘‘struggling’’ England team to turn around its rugby fortunes after a second consecutive away defeat dashed its dream of a record third consecutive Six Nations title.

Speaking after England’s 22-16 loss to France in Paris yesterday which saw Ireland clinch the championship - Jones said: ‘‘It’s a learning period for us, we’re struggling at the moment, so we’re always looking to learn and make sure we’re stronger next time.

‘‘We’re going through a difficult period and we’ll come out the other side of it soon I’m sure,’’ Jones told BBC Sport.

‘‘We were about 2 or 3 per cent from where we needed to be. We were beaten at the breakdown, we gave away too many penalties, and when we had the momentum we didn’t score. I thought the leadership was outstanding. We didn’t play well, but we put ourselves into a position when we could have won the game.’’

England’s bid to win a third straight championship collapsed with a second away loss in the Six Nations for the first time since 2009.

After falling to Scotland at Murrayfield, England started the match at Stade de France knowing Ireland would be crowned champion unless it could beat the French with a four-tries bonus point.

Instead, England were uninspired in attack and were dominated at the breakdown. They gave away 16 penalties, missed 16 tackles, and turned over nine times. They crossed the line just once, when Jonny May touched down with seven minutes left.

It was France’s first win over England in four years.