Six Nations 2017: England will have more setbacks - Eddie Jones - BBC Sport
Eddie Jones says England are "14 months into a four-year project" after hopes of a second straight Grand Slam are ended by Ireland.
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union

Eddie Jones said England will "have more setbacks" after his side's hopes of a second straight Grand Slam and a world-record 19th Test win were ended by Ireland on Saturday.

Jones' side had already retained the Six Nations title before their campaign ended with a 13-9 defeat in Dublin.

The Australian said England are "14 months into a four-year project".

"It would have been great to be Grand Slam champions and world record holders but it wasn't our day," he added.

The defeat means England's winning run ends on 18 Tests, level with New Zealand, who saw their series of victories also ended by the Irish, in Chicago in November.

"To win the World Cup you've got to win seven in a row, you've got to cope with that pressure," added Jones.

"How many teams average a 90% win rate? Not many, only the All Blacks."

Jones said the hosts used the conditions "superbly", adding: "Full credit to Ireland, they were brilliantly coached and executed their plan well."

But he said England did not play to their potential and that he would take full responsibility for the defeat.

"We knew it was going to be a tough, physical game, we just weren't good enough today. I didn't prepare the team well," he said.

"We're all human beings, we're not perfect, and that's why world records finish at 18 games because it's hard to keep [winning].

"The next Test we play I'll prepare them better. I'm human like everyone else, I make mistakes. Even [legendary Australia batsman] Don Bradman got a zero in his last Test."

'This will keep us grounded'

England captain Dylan Hartley said his team had "big lessons to learn" from the defeat.

"We set out to win the tournament and we've done that. Obviously we're disappointed not to win this final game because we had high hopes, we had high expectations of ourselves," added the hooker.

"Credit to Ireland. We seemed to back up every error with another error. We are not the finished article. This will keep us grounded."

'I can't wait to play New Zealand'

The British and Irish Lions will travel to New Zealand in June looking for a first Test series win there since 1971.

England are not due to face the All Blacks until 2018, but Jones hopes the Rugby Football Union (RFU) can secure a fixture against the world champions in November.

"I expect at least 15 of our guys to go on the Lions tour, I'd be disappointed if we don't have that many guys in," said Jones. "And I think they'll have a massive shout [of winning the Test series].

"New Zealand, as Ireland have shown, are there for the taking.

"I can't wait for us to play them either. We're very keen to play them, I've had a discussion with Ian [Ritchie, RFU chief executive] and we're raring to go.

"There's a lot of discussions to go. A lot of discussions with New Zealand and within the rugby community, there's still a lot to go."