England got the balance right – Jones

ENGLAND ....................... 23 FRANCE .......................... 20

EDDIE Jones has thrown down the gauntlet by insisting England grabbed a head start on France in the race for the 2023 World Cup, writes Nick Purewal.

Tries from Anthony Watson and Maro Itoje helped England edge out the resurgent French 23-20 at Twickenham, ending Les Bleus’ Six Nations Grand Slam hopes.

Antoine Dupont and Damian Penaud crossed for France, but the visitors ran out of steam and England’s better game management ultimately steered them back to winning ways.

France will host the 2023 World Cup and are already being touted as among the favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Cup on home soil – but wily coach Jones insisted that England are determined to match them stride for stride.

“They’re being described as the best team in the world,” said Jones. “They are a good team, a quality team with quality players, and they are well coached.

“And we said to our players before the game we’re going to be racing them to the World Cup.

“They are a good team, they’re developing, we’re developing, and it’s going to be a good race between the two of us. And we got a bit of a start on it here.”

England’s ill-discipline and ragged tactics contributed heavily to their Six Nations losses to both Scotland and Wales, and boss Jones had demanded an upsurge in those areas against France.

The home side offered a greater balance between attack and containment, and certainly improved their disciplinary approach.

And Jones believes England are now back on track in terms of developing their game plan for the next World Cup.

“We’ve always had the plan post the 2019 World Cup that we needed to create a game that would take us to the next World Cup,” said Jones.

“We always felt we needed to develop our game, so we started that at the start of the Six Nations and we’re slowly, slowly getting better at getting the right balance in our game between passing, running and kicking. Today was probably another step forward.”

England: Malins; Watson, Slade, Farrell, May; Ford, Youngs; M Vunipola, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler, Itoje, Ewels, Wilson, Curry, B Vunipola. Replacements: Daly for Malins (63), Lawrence for Slade (72), Robson for Youngs (76), Genge for M Vunipola (63), George for Cowan-Dickie (72), Stuart for Sinckler (72), Hill for Ewels (78), Earl for Wilson (63).

Scorers – Tries: Watson, Itoje. Cons: Farrell 2. Pens: Farrell 3.

France: Dulin; Thomas, Vakatawa, Fickou, Penaud; Jalibert, Dupont; Baille, Marchand, Haouas, R Taofifenua, Willemse, Cretin, Ollivon, Alldritt. Replacements: Gros for Baille (68), Chat for Marchand (72), Aldegheri for Haouas (59), Cazeaux for R Taofifenua (59), Woki for Cretin (72). Not Used: Jelonch, Serin, Ntamack.

Scorers – Tries: Dupont, Penaud. Cons: Jalibert 2. Pens: Jalibert 2.

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa).

Wales remain on course for the Grand Slam after a 48-7 win in Italy, while Ireland beat Scotland 27-24.