article: Media playback is not supported on this device He is lucky with the talent he has in key positions, he is lucky with the funds and facilities created for him and he is lucky that no other nation save New Zealand has the same strength in depth sitting on their replacements' bench. But there is nothing lucky at all about how he utilises all of those to forge an England team that has already set new records and may yet set more impressive ones still. It wasn't hard to see where England were going wrong in the first half against France. It was everywhere you looked. A first line-out so bad it hit the back of Dan Cole's head. A yellow card for a tackle that was unnecessary and illegal. An inability to dent the blue defensive wall with ball in hand, a problem stopping the waves of French runners coming at them from deep and wide and fast. The difficulty lay in working out what to do about it and how to make that plan work. No Vunipolas to add muscle and metres made. No Chris Robshaw to slow the progress of a French back row charging and offloading like a French back row of old. An opposition liberated from the stylistic straightjacket of recent torpid years, and a Twickenham crowd silenced by unexpected uncertainty and fear. Any coach could have torn into their team after a first 40 minutes as scrambled as that. Not so many could have sent them out again after half-time clear of mind and confident in their ability to turn that slump into success. Fewer still could have made not just the right changes to personnel but customised the positional and tactical ones so shrewdly too. Media playback is not supported on this device With 18 minutes to go, England were much improved but still four points down, Rabah Slimani's offload-inspired try threatening to end France's 12-year wait for a win in south-west London and mark the Six Nations' opening day with a second shock to match that of Scotland's thrilling win over Ireland. Off came Joe Launchbury. On came James Haskell into the back row, forward went Maro Itoje into the second row. More pace. More power. Five minutes later, George Ford and Jonathan Joseph off, Ben Te'o and Jack Nowell on, Owen Farrell to fly-half, Elliot Daly to inside centre. More power still, now pace spilling out everywhere, now a dynamism and drive and the sound from the stands of belief and excitement too. Quick ball, sharper minds. Farrell found Te'o, Te'o found a soft opposition shoulder and the try-line opened up in front of him. Media playback is not supported on this device "I always thought we were going to win," said Jones afterwards. "I thought we were awful, but I always thought we were going to win." There were not many others so sure in the moment, fewer yet who could have prevented even subconscious anxiety and anger from transmitting itself to the players on the pitch. France had three men -
summary: Eddie Jones is a lucky coach.