Eddie Jones was back on pundit duty for England vs France (Image: Getty)
highlighted where need to improve if they want to establish themselves as a contender this year.
Jones’ former side against France at Twickenham.
It was a morale-boosting win for Steve Borthwick’s men, who until Fin Smith converted Elliot Daly’s try, had been staring down the barrel of back-to-back defeats to start their campaign.
By no means a perfect England performance, the Red Rose did give as good as they got throughout 80 minutes and were particularly impressive in attack.
The surprise victory over France has opened the door for England in terms of this year’s Championship battle, with Borthwick’s men now firmly in the picture after two rounds of matches.
But in order for them to become genuine contenders, former coach Jones wants to see an improvement in one key area.
Speaking to ITV Sport, he said: “I think they’re on the threshold of being a really good team, but what they’ve got to do is take the learnings from today and really reinforce how they handle difficult moments in the game.
“How they get on the front foot again and not go into their shell. That was evident in their second half, they kept going and kept going and were rewarded.
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England showed courage to come from behind and beat France (Image: Getty)
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“Keep being aggressive, keep attacking. Attacking doesn’t mean you just keep the ball. You can attack by kicking, good kicking today, it certainly showed.
“But I think just having that really aggressive attacking mindset for England is the way forward.”
England have been known to buckle under pressure in the past, most recently when Australia visited west London for the Autumn Internationals, after a last-gasp try gave the tourists a famous victory.
It’s a result that certainly alleviates the pressure on Borthwick’s shoulders, with the coach having been criticised following the Autumn internationals and a losing start to this year’s Six Nations.
Reflecting on perhaps the best victory of his England coaching career so far, he said: “I think the players handled themselves really well throughout that last period of the game.
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“That was a tough Test match and France are an exceptional side with world-class players throughout their team and we were really tested.
“You can talk about the tries scored and there were some good tries, I think you can talk about how hard the players ran back to make tackles and save tries.
“That’s a measure of how much these players care about this team.”
England take on Scotland at Twickenham next in the Six Nations on Saturday, 22 February.