How the wheels have come off for England and left them a long way short of their 2019 World Cup dream

England's defeat to France meant that Ireland claimed the championship with a game remaining

Where are England heading now? (Getty)

It’s back to the drawing board for England, for Eddie Jones and for his grand plan to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and while there was no need for an overreaction after the Scotland defeat a fortnight ago, alarm bells should now be ringing loud and clear.

The 22-16 defeat by France on Saturday handed Ireland the Six Nations title with a pretty bow wrapped on it as Joe Schmidt’s side clinched their first championship in three years with a round to spare, having comfortably negotiated Scotland in Dublin earlier in the day.

But while the corks popped in Dublin as celebrations began, there was no such talk of championship hopes or congratulations in Paris. Instead, Jones had already started the post-mortem, and this time around it looks particularly messy for England.

Jones repeatedly discussed England’s struggles in the breakdown, and rightly so. 16 times England were penalised by referee Jaco Peyper, with the majority coming for infringements at the ruck, while France were able to seal 12 turnovers throughout the match that gave them fast counter-attacking ball to work with.

Having seen the same type of match play out at Murrayfield two weeks ago, Jones congratulated Scotland for a brilliant first half performance and then went about trying to fix their own problems. This time around though, it was different. Yes, Mathieu Bastareaud is currently playing the breakdown better than any centre in the world, yes Yacouba Camara had his best game in a blue jersey and, yes, Guilhem Guirado showed what a dangerous player he can be in the loose. But this is not a world class French team.

The emotional celebrations from both the players and fans inside the Stade de France represented exactly how far France have slipped off the likes of England and Ireland, given that wins against them are now considered upsets. If Scotland blasted England off the park in the last round with their frantic gung-ho style, England gave France this one on a platter.

And believe it or not, time is running out for Jones to solve his problems – and they are not just at the breakdown. There is something not quite right about the England back-row at the moment, and while a lot of that is due the absence of influential No 8 Billy Vunipola and his ability to penetrate the defensive line, there is more to it. England still lack an openside flanker, with Sam Underhill – the most likely candidate to fill the No 7 shirt – unable to string games together due to injuries. Sale’s Tom Curry similarly has been hampered by injury, while Exeter’s Don Armand just doesn’t fit what Jones wants in a flanker right now.

That leaves Chris Robshaw – the “six-and-a-half” as Jones so famously put it – and James Haskell, who at the start of the season was out of the international picture, yet could find himself back in the starting line-up for next weekend’s finale with Ireland. Sam Simmonds, the Exeter Chiefs back-row who made a good first impression in the first two matches of the championship, is an interesting case, given that he is not quite a No 8 and not quite an openside. A seven-and-a-half?

Then there’s the much-maligned centre partnership debate. It was hoped that the decision to move Owen Farrell to inside centre and allow Jonathan Joseph to run wild outside him had put to bed the question of England’s best centre pairing. But Joseph, for some reason or another, clearly hasn’t convinced Jones after being dropped for the second time this championship in favour of Ben Te’o, while Farrell always moves to fly-half if the going gets tough and George Ford is struggling. The evidence suggests that Farrell may just be a fly-half more than he is a Test centre, but where does that leave the rest of the options?

Te’o and Joseph could combine to form something of a conventional power-and-pace combination, although it didn’t really click when Ford came off the field on Saturday, while Elliot Daly would certainly be an interesting venture at 13 given he plays his best club rugby there for Wasps. And where does England’s most creative midfielder, Henry Slade, slot into all of this?

The full-back slot is also cause for concern, given that Anthony Watson hardly set the world alight on Saturday and Jones doesn’t appear to be ready to cut Mike Brown completely, given his presence among the replacements against France. With an Irish aerial bombardment on the cards next weekend, don’t be surprised to see Brown back in the 15 shirt. However, Daly may also be option at 15 given his passing and kicking ability and the sheer pace that he possesses.

All of this means that England are a long, long way from where they would want to be at this stage, and it now feels like Jones is further away than ever before from knowing what his best XV is. They may be two years into the World Cup cycle, but it’s back to square one for the dethroned champions.