England suffer consecutive defeats with 24-17 Six Nations setback coming just under two months after 32-12 loss in 2019 Rugby World Cup final
Monday 3 February 2020 12:16, UK
What changes does Eddie Jones need to make to his injury-hit squad following England's below-par performance in their Six Nations opener, asks Sky Sports News reporter James Cole...
England's opening half an hour in Paris on Sunday was unexplainable for head coach Eddie Jones, and repeated errors, knock-ons and missed opportunities saw his side 24-0 down after 55 minutes.
Two late and brilliant Jonny May tries were in vain, as one from Vincent Rattez and two courtesy of captain Charles Ollivon, in addition to a 100 per cent kicking performance from fly-half Romain Ntamack, saw Les Blues kick off their 2020 campaign with an impressive victory.
Lacklustre individual performances characterised much of his side's first-half display during their first competitive clash since the 2019 World Cup final defeat to South Africa.
With Jones insisting that his side is not experiencing a 'World Cup hangover', Owen Farrell and co. have just five days to regroup and address the pressing issues ahead of their trip to Murrayfield on February 8; but just how many changes are we likely to see?
Jones has said that drastic changes will not be necessary for England's clash with Gregor Townsend's side at Murrayfield - but with centre Manu Tuilagi set to be ruled out with a groin injury, a midfield rethink will be essential.
The Leicester centre will have an MRI scan and will be a huge loss. With Tuilagi and with Henry Slade (ankle) also still unavailable - the difficulty will be picking a balanced midfield.
If Jones opts to keep the George Ford-Owen Farrell partnership, then it will be between Bath's Jamie Joseph and Exeter's Ollie Devoto for the No 13 shirt.
The other option would be to play Farrell at 10, but Jones would then have to pair two new centres.
With Billy Vunipola injured, the decision to play Tom Curry at No 8 backfired.
Jones said afterwards that he intends to persevere with it - but England lacked control at the base of the scrum and Curry's lack of experience there was evident in Paris.
If Jones changes his mind and decides to add a specialist No 8 to his squad, Harlequins' Alex Dombrandt and Bristol's Nathan Hughes are both in-form options.
23-year-old George Furbank made his international debut against France but Jones says he is hopeful Anthony Watson will have recovered from his calf problem in time for the trip to Murrayfield.
Furbank had a tough afternoon in Paris - and while Jones says he will stick by him - the challenge will be ensuring that the young man's confidence hasn't been too damaged by his Stade de France experience.
Ellis Genge and Luke Cowan-Dickie couldn't be pushing any harder to start in Edinburgh.
With Mako Vunipola also likely to return, Jones will have some big decisions to make. It's not in the Australian's nature to make wholesale changes - but two in the front row wouldn't be extreme.
George Kruis made a big impact off the bench. Bath's Charlie Ewels got the nod to start in Paris but may find himself playing a finishing role in Edinburgh.
