Shaun Edwards masterminds England’s latest downfall to leave Eddie Jones with a familiar problem

Former Wales coach was heralded in the hours after England’s surprise defeat at the Stade de France after being allowed once again to slip through the net

There was one name that kept cropping up in the aftermath of France’s magnificent 24-17 victory over England in Sunday, leaving it in little doubt over who the man of the round was across the first weekend of Six Nations fixtures.

It wasn’t Antoine Dupont, nor Gregory Alldritt or Charles Ollivon. It was their new defence coach, Shaun Edwards.

The former Wales assistant has crossed the Channel this year with the task of shaping up one of rugby’s most subdued defences. For too long now, France have allowed themselves to be physically dominated, and few were expecting change to be brought about so quickly.

That’s almost certainly why Eddie Jones talked up England’s plan to bring “physical brutality” to the Stade de France in an effort to bludgeon the French out of the game – only they didn’t. Instead they were on the receiving end of exactly what Jones had promised, a physically dominant performance that not only kept England out of the contest, but allowed Dupont and Romain Ntamack to fire their attack on all cylinders. It was a display built out of defensive togetherness, unrelenting pressure and sheer bloody-mindedness, a display that has been honed to perfection over a number of years by Edwards.

“He is a tough guy and he always wants aggression from you, in every bit of work, in every tackle,” noted man of the match Alldritt, one of six players in the French squad who cleared double figures in the tackling department. “He wants big tackles. And speed in the tackle. He is bringing a lot of experience to us at the international level and a lot of competence too.

“He (Jones) was saying that we couldn’t manage the brutality of the England team. But when you are a winner, a competitor, you just want to show him that you can manage that.”

The reverse psychology technique evidently worked for France, as it left England flummoxed in figuring out how to assert their game plan onto the opposition, rather than the other way around. Getting into the French 22 was not proving the issue for England at all, but rather how to stop a defiant French defence that each time was able to disrupt the ball, turn it over or force an error. Both of England’s tries came from moments of inspiration from Jonny May that started well outside the 22, but England still spent eight minutes and 35 seconds inside the French red zone, compared to Les Bleus’ one minute and 25 seconds. It was substantially more than half of England’s total time in possession, and is actually quite hard to achieve without taking as much as a penalty. To not take any points away at all from more than 10 per cent of the match in the 22 is simply criminal when it comes to Six Nations rugby.

“We didn’t convert did we? That was disappointing,” acknowledged Joe Marler afterwards. “I have to give credit to France and to Shaun Edwards, who has clearly done a brilliant job in a short time. I remember being at dinner with him a few months back and he said he was going to go over and stop the boys eating too many croissants, stop them smoking as much. Clearly he has done that.

“Their line speed was a lot more ferocious than what it has been in the past. Credit to them for holding us out. We are disappointed that we did not convert when we were in the 22 and we will look at ourselves for that to adapt things and get a better plan in place there.”

The high praise continued when Marler compared what England faced on Sunday to what Edwards was able to achieve with Wales while working under Warren Gatland’s reign. “The linespeed was probably more than Wales in the last couple of years. I guess that’s inevitable – a new face, a new coach, some new ideas. It was a different way to traditional France, they usually have a very casual defence, push outwards, do a lot of soak tackles. Now they have hard lines coming at us, pressurising us, taking away our time and space, it was very Shaun Edwards-esque. And we didn’t adapt quick enough.”

The issue is not just Shaun Edwards though, no matter how high the praise and how big the improvement in the French just three months on since the World Cup finished. Jones may have denied that England have any hangover from their heartbreak in Japan, but the first half had all the hallmarks of a side that has not worked out how that final went so badly wrong. France were able to do exactly what South Africa did to Owen Farrell’s side, and that should be of great concern given that in Ireland and Wales, England will face two defensively dominant sides.

Marler admitted England struggled to cope with France's linespeed (Getty) (The RFU Collection via Getty Ima)

England will have to get it right fast, and it will be up to the players who misfired in France to do so as Jones suggested afterwards that he will not be making many changes beyond the return of Mako Vunipola to the squad after being rested. The advantage of playing a side with the attacking intent of Scotland – thus making them defensively vulnerable at times – may be negated by the six-day turnaround that England face, and unless they can rediscover their clinical edge that is in danger of deserting them, it could prove a long championship for the pre-tournament favourites.