Eddie Jones takes the blame for 'awful' performance as England grind out record 15t straight victory

England were sluggish in the first half and lacked their usual cutting edge as a superior France side threatened an upset before a second-half fightback

Eddie Jones was unhappy with himself after admitting he failed to prepare his England squad for their France test (Getty)

Eddie Jones took the blame for England’s “awful” 19-16 Six Nations victory over France that maintained his unbeaten record as head coach, and admitted that he failed to prepare the team properly for the encounter against a very physical opponent.

England were lucky to be level at the break as they headed into the changing rooms at 9-9, but rather than blame the players for an uncharacteristically slow start, he was keen to put the spotlight on himself.

“I thought we were always going to win the game,” Jones said. “I thought we were awful but we were always going to win the game and that is what I like about these boys. They have got a never say die attitude. They keep at it, even when they are not going well and things are not going right.”

““It was a good win and it’s always good to win when you are not playing well,” he said. “I take full responsibility for the performance because I didn’t prepare the team well enough. I got some things wrong and I have a lot of homework to do over the weekend. I will make sure the team plays better against Wales.

“At the end of the day we have four points and we are happy but we know we can play better. So it is upwards and onwards and it is England versus Wales in Wales next week and the test record shows 60 per cent have been won by Wales only 40 per cent by England so mentally there are things that go on.”

Jones could look to change his side quite drastically, given the impact that replacements James Haskell, Jack Nowell and Te’o made. With Jones electing to remove George Ford, push Owen Farrell into fly-half and deploy Te’o at inside centre, he is now considering handing the Worcester Warriors centre his first start for England.

“We have got some nice selection issues which is good,” Jones added. “The French were tiring. We could have broken them in the second half. If Daly scores in the corner it could have been an entirely different game.

“We missed a couple of passes and opportunities to break them. The bench definitely made a difference. Haskell for a guy that’s played 35 minutes and 35 seconds was brilliant. Ben Te’o did really well for us.”

However, Jones rejected the idea that he selected the wrong team, despite choosing not to throw Haskell straight back into the mix and start Itoje in the second-row, having deployed the impressive Saracens lock at blindside flanker.

Itoje led the England lineout for the first time in the absence of his club colleague, George Kruis, and Jones was pleased with the 22-year-old regardless of what position he is deployed in.

“I’m happy with selection,” he said. “It was preparation. Look at the team that finished the game. They were superb, so we got selection right.

“[Itoje] did good mate, fantastic performance, really good. [He’s a]Young guy – first time he has called line outs in Test matches and that is bloody hard. He did a great job so I was really happy with him. It doesn’t matter whether four, five or six is his best position but he copes with whatever is put into him. He did very well.”

England will now wait to see what Wales can do in their first outing in the six Nations, as they take on Italy on Sunday afternoon to complete the opening round of fixtures following Scotland’s 27-22 victory over Ireland earlier in the day.