Jones hails his players – but rues indiscipline

England head coach Eddie Jones was last night unconcerned by England’s losing run and hailed their application.

He said: “There was no lack of effort from the team but we just struggled to execute at certain times. I thought our players really stuck at it, but we gave them too big a lead.

“It’s obviously disappointing but you go through these little runs and the only way you get out of it is by sticking to the process and focusing on what you need to improve.

“We’ve got to keep working on our game, keep looking at how we can improve it.”

England’s indiscipline has been highlighted as a key concern in recent weeks and Jones admitted: “We gave Ireland too many penalties at the start of the game which allowed them to get such a big lead.”

The Australian had warm words for Ireland, though, adding: “They’re a good, tough team, well coached, very well disciplined. They play to their strengths and they’re very worthy Grand Slam winners.”

Meanwhile, Ireland captain Rory Best knew his side would be given a stern test and was understandably delighted they passed with flying colours.

Best said: “We knew it was going to be a really tough task to come here and win. Right from the off we tried to attack England with and without the ball, it was a very ferocious Test match, right throughout.

“We just had to make sure we made every moment count, every single moment, build the moments on top of each other and try to build as close to a perfect 80 minutes as we could because we knew the reward would be worth the massive effort required.

“Words can’t describe how delighted we are with that win but also the Grand Slam.

“The statement for us was to make sure we won something big and ultimately in this, what turned out to be a cup final for us, to show what we’re made of.”