Former England head coach Eddie Jones has revealed his three top takeaways from Saturday\u2019s Six Nations thriller between his former side and France.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the Rugby Unity podcast, Jones said: \u201cThree things that stood out for me were: one, England\u2019s identity as a rugby team, I think they\u2019re still struggling to find it. I think Steve knows how he wants to play, and he knows the players he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
England\u2019s style of play has differed in each of their matches. Against France<\/a>, they were unrecognisable from the side that had barely gotten out of first gear against Ireland and Scotland. Eddie believes that Borthwick has a clear vision, but from the outside, it\u2019s still difficult to see what that is.<\/p>\n Jones then turned his attention to the French scrum-half, Antoine Dupont<\/a>, saying: \u201cThe second thing, Dupont, I reckon he\u2019s still an outstanding player, but he\u2019s going through that sort of post-ACL where you\u2019re a different player, you don\u2019t have that, and he\u2019s still adapting to a major injury, and so he\u2019s not the force he was.\u201d<\/p>\n While Dupont may not quite receive the same level of plaudits that he once did, there\u2019s no doubt that he\u2019s still a world-class operator. The way in which he has what feels like an unlimited amount of time on the ball is unmatched in the game.<\/p>\n Any athlete returning from injury is going to need time to return to full match fitness, but Dupont is at such a level that his 80% is still equivalent to the top level of most other world-class players.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as\u00a0a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n Stuart Barnes urges RFU to sack Steve Borthwick for \u2018master of short-term turnarounds\u2019 who has dispelled Rugby World Cup \u2018myth\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s all about social media\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThe third thing is, is this the way we\u2019re going to have rugby in the future?\u201d continued Jones<\/a>. \u201cIs that what we want, tries, a lot of tries, big scores, players celebrating?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about social media. And if that\u2019s the case, that\u2019s good. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s a bad thing at all, but let\u2019s make sure that we adjust the way we interpret the laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones is keen to keep the game as fair and as interesting as possible, adding: \u201cI had a chat with Steve Hansen on the weekend about the yellow card. He had that idea about maybe just say, basketball, we have a free throw, so you get a penalty in front of the post for a single offence. So keep 15 and 15 on the field, and you get a shot at a penalty goal.\u201d<\/p>\n