STINGING England subs fight back to break French hearts
EDDIE JONES can apply for membership of the Magic Circle after conjuring up this win – but reckons his bench pulled the rabbit out of the hat.
England got over the line thanks to replacement Ben Te’o crashing over with 10 minutes left after a great delayed pass by George Ford put Owen Farrell away.
Chuck in turbo-charged performances from super subs James Haskell and Matt Mullan when England were rocking and it ended up all right on the night after a shocking first hour.
It is now 15 wins on the spin for England, eclipsing the record set by Martin Johnson’s legendary team between 2002 and 2003.
This current lot are nowhere near as good, and Jones knows it.
But they nicked an ugly win – and all without the Vunipola boys, Mako and Billy, Chris Robshaw, George Kruis and Anthony Watson, who are on the casualty list.
But the gaffer revealed he will crack the whip this week ahead of next weekend’s clash with Wales in Cardiff.
Jones ( right) said: “I thought we were awful but we were always going to win the game and that’s what I like about these boys. They have a never-say-die attitude. They keep at it, even when they’re not going well and things aren’t going right.
“It’s always good to win when you don’t play well. I take full responsibility, I didn’t prepare the team well and will make sure we’ll be prepared better for next week.
“It was a great result for our 23 and we’ve a very strong bench. Given we have four of our top- class forwards out, that we can still bring on a bench that