Sunday 11 March 2018 18:49, UK
England boss Eddie Jones admits he may have to make changes to his selection policy, as he looks to address his side's power deficit and lack of discipline at the breakdown.
England surrendered the Six Nations crown to Ireland after a 22-16 defeat to France in Paris on Saturday ended their hopes of a third successive title.
Ireland will travel to Twickenham on Saturday in search of only their third ever Six Nations Grand Slam and Jones is ready to ring the changes as he looks to avoid a potential fifth-place finish.
"The game is changing at the moment which will enforce some selection changes," Jones said. "If you don't have power, it's very hard to get momentum. Power is force times mass, and it's how quickly you can accelerate it.
"Significantly, we gave too many penalties away, which was the difference in the game, and the breakdown again caused us trouble.
"We did not learn quickly enough. Why? I am not 100 per cent sure. There's no lack of effort. The game is changing a little bit and we have probably been slow to adapt to it.
"We are not adapting to the referee's interpretation at the ruck as well as we should. These are painful lessons at the moment."
James Haskell believes a difference in emphasis between club and international rugby is the source of England's problems at the breakdown.
"We're coming from the Premiership, where no one competes at the breakdown, into the Six Nations, where every team is throwing lots of people into it. We haven't been quick enough to adjust to that," Haskell said.
"It very hard to adapt to international rugby. You have a go and you get penalised, so you don't want to go in again.
"International rugby is dramatically different now to where it was 12 months ago. It's a lot more of a power game with more physicality around the breakdown."
