It may have been a perfect 2016 for England but head coach Eddie Jones insists there is much to work on as thoughts turn to their RBS 6 Nations title defence.
The Australian is yet to lose while in charge of the Red Rose, as they swept all before them on their way to Grand Slam glory in the 2016 RBS 6 Nations before whitewashing Australia 3-0 away from home.
After disappointment surrounded England following the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Jones has provided the perfect tonic and winning has become an unbreakable habit at Twickenham.
Yet the former Australia head coach, who has steered his side to second in the world rankings, is demanding even more as England gear up for the start of their title defence against France on February 4.
“Our scrum to start with needs to be more consistent than it has been, our line-out needs to be more consistent, our defence has been enormously powerful and suffocating but at times has given away too many easy tries,” he said.
“Once we get those pillars right we’ll start working on our attack.”
After the RBS 6 Nations, which concludes with an intriguing trip to Ireland in March, England tour Argentina next summer – just before Warren Gatland takes his British & Irish Lions side to New Zealand.
Jones expects to lose many of his stars to the Lions tour, but he is not deterred – and said the trip to South America will give him an opportunity to blood some new, exciting youngsters.
“We’re hoping to have the bulk of our squad involved in the Lions so we’ll lose a lot of our team for the tour of Argentina. Then it will be about developing depth and having three quality players for every position,” he added.
“The first part of the year is about the squad winning the RBS 6 Nations again and to do that we have to beat France in that first game at Twickenham on 4 February.
“After the RBS 6 Nations it’s going to be about developing depth.”
