Eddie Jones not bothered by boos following England's Six Nations loss to Ireland at Twickenham

By Declan Olley

England head coach Eddie Jones responds to the jeers at Twickenham which followed their defeat to Ireland in the Six Nations

Eddie Jones says the jeers from the Twickenham crowd after England's 24-15 defeat to Ireland in the Six Nations will "put him to sleep".

Following defeats to Scotland, France and now Ireland, Jones was booed as he gave his post-match interview with Ireland winning a third Grand Slam.

When told of the crowd's reaction by a reporter, the head coach said: "I didn't hear it. Have you got a replay of it? I'll listen to it - it'll put me to sleep tonight.

"The only thing I can control is coaching the team. I can't control what you guys write, what the crowd says. All I can do is coach to the best of my ability."

Image: Eddie Jones looks on as Ireland beat England at Twickenham

England ended the Championship in fifth place - their worst finish since they came bottom of the old Five Nations in 1983.

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Jones said it's better the setbacks happened now than at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

The 58-year-old said: "It is, unfortunately, something that you have to have because you never find out about yourself unless you have these runs.

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"Every team I have had that has been a champion team has had these runs which have been instrumental in how you re-make a team.

"When you take over it is reasonably easy, like I did with England, it is quite easy to improve them quickly because you get fix certain things that need fixing quickly.

Image: Ireland completed a third Grand Slam at Twickenham

"But internal mechanisms take time to fix and that is the slow burner. Unless you fix them they catch up with you when you get to the big tournaments such as the World Cup.

"So for us it has been an enormously beneficial tournament if disappointing because we are finding out about how to be a better team. We have to get a greater depth to our squad that can play Test rugby."

Jones also confirmed it was his decision to extend the in-goal area beyond its usual dimensions which allowed Ireland's Jacob Stockdale to score a try just before half-time and give Ireland a 21-5 lead.

Image: Jacob Stockdale scored Ireland's third try of the first half with the in-goal area extended

The winger's effort would likely have not stood if the in-goal area had not been extended.

Jones said: "We wanted to play with bigger dead ball areas which we're quite allowed to under the laws. Everyone was aware of it."

Asked if his decision had backfired following Stockdale's try, he responded: "Not really. It's just part of the game."

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