In the build-up to the Six Nations clash with France in Paris, Eddie Jones explained that the main reason he wished to remain on as head coach of England was that the felt the World Cup finalists have the potential to become "the best rugby team ever".
Those were comments which came back to bite the Australian on Sunday afternoon. A youthful France team raced to 24-0 lead, eventually winning 24-17. Jones had also told the France team that they should expect a level of brutality from England which would make them understand what test level rugby is about.
"I put a lot of blame for this on Eddie Jones," Matt Williams said on Virgin Media's Six Nations coverage following France's win.
Eddie Jones this week has been arrogant. He said they want to be the best team of all-time. Look at that performance there. Why would you say something stupid like that? Why put the pressure on your players?
I'll read something here. It says, 'France are young, inexperienced and don't know how to fight. They can expect absolute brutality from England. We're going out to make sure that they understand what test rugby is - it's about brutality and physicality, it's about dominating the set piece'.
If you're sitting there and you're an England player, you're going, 'Coach, shut up. Don't'. Why poke the bear? The French came out and they just gave it to them. That's just a bunch of kids, a lot of those guys.
The scrum-half, Dupont, is 23, and he's got the most caps in the backline. They are a very young side. England should have taken this team apart but they were arrogant.
That's when England fail: they get arrogant and believe they are unbeatable. The French came out and gave it to them. I am absolutely delighted.
In his post-match interview, Jones said that blame for the poor England performance feel on his shoulders.
"Full credit to France but I've got to take responsibility for the performance of the team," said Jones.
"We deliberately came in late given that our players have been playing club rugby pretty consistently since the end of the World Cup. We thought we needed to freshen them up and maybe we were underprepared for the game and that's my responsibility."
"I put a lot of the blame on Eddie Jones. He's been arrogant.
"England were arrogant and that's when England fail!
"The French came out and gave it to them and I'm absolutely delighted!"
No holding back from @MattRCNM on England! #FRAvENG #GuinnessSixNations #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/Cob7M0IetC— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 2, 2020
