Six Nations opener will start to reveal how great this new England side can really be

With the aim of becoming the 'greatest team the sport has seen', the Eddie Jones Project 2.0 means anything less than a Grand Slam will not do

In the minutes after their heartbreaking Rugby World Cup final defeat, many of the England squad pondered not just over the three-month journey that they had experienced in Japan, but also on what may lie ahead.

The pragmatic Sam Underhill was one of those. Sure, he was gutted at what had unfolded inside the International Stadium in Yokohama, but after a well deserved beer in the changing room the flanker was able to take stock and realise that by all accounts the journey was not over for this crop of players. England set a new record that day with the youngest side to feature in a World Cup final, which makes it no surprise to see 12 of the same faces kick-off their 2020 Six Nations campaign, with a further six World Cup squad members among the replacements.

Much of England’s improvement stemmed from the World Cup agony they suffered in 2015, and it would be a fair argument to suggest that they will be spurred on to even greater things due to the humbling defeat against the Springboks.

That’s why it came as such a surprise when Eddie Jones, in the depths of the International Stadium on 2 November, suggested that it was the end of the road.

“This team is finished now,” Jones said after the final. “There will be a new team made – we’ll make a new team for the Six Nations and that new team for the Six Nations will be the basis of going to the next World Cup.”

The verbal back-and-forth that followed between Jones and the media could not mask the surprising suggestion that the journey was over. Sure, there have been tweaks, but the team that runs out at the Stade de France on Sunday will very much be the World Cup finalists, and that comes with quite the reputation.

Those of a cynical inclination would ponder that perhaps Jones, ever ready to indulge in the dark arts of the mind games, was already launching the campaign to ease the pressure on his side for the Six Nations. Every team loves to win in this formidable championship, but they all love doing it against England that little bit more, especially one that has gone into the tournament as strong favourites.

But in truth Jones appeared far too emotional in those crushing moments after the loss to be give the Six Nations any thought at all – so did he really mean it, is that team finished?

The answer will be provided over the course of the next seven weeks, but the likelihood is that there are elements of both possibilities in his thinking. The Elliot Daly experiment at full-back looks to be over, as Anthony Watson looks set to return to the No 15 shirt once fully fit unless George Furbank can take his debut this weekend by storm and lay his claim to the shirt. Even if the Northampton Saints back has a stormer, how can you leave one of Daly, Watson and Jonny May out of the side?

The decision to move Daly back to the wing suggests Jones wants more solidity at the back, and Furbank will certainly give him that, albeit without the flare that Watson is able to offer. But inside them the gameplan looks very much the same, with the George Ford-Owen Farrell-Manu Tuilagi axis retained largely due to Henry Slade’s injury-enforced absence. With Tuilagi at 13, it will be up to Farrell to make sure the back three see the ball enough to give England the points-scoring chances that they took so well in 2019. Stop the ball at Farrell, and the opposition will go a long way to stopping England altogether.

But once Slade returns, he may just be the answer to this new England side. Tuilagi was quite insistent in Japan that he does not see himself making another World Cup despite being just 28 years old, and with the riches within rugby league eyeing him up, the Leicester centre may not even be in the game anymore come France 2023. That could persuade Jones into thrusting Slade into the back line consistently once he returns, although it will take all of his conviction to leave the wrecking ball Tuilagi out of his side.

That would be quite a sizeable change in direction. Jones built his entire gameplan around Tuilagi, only to lose him for the first three years of his England project. This time around, the Australian looks to be building something that can survive with or without him, and that lies in the heart of the pack.

England have a gem of a player in Kyle Sinckler, plus another just behind him in the second row in Maro Itoje, yet it was in the forwards where they found themselves so physically outpowered by the Springboks. When Jones declared at the Six Nations launch that he wants to produce “the greatest team the sport has ever seen”, he may as well have been standing in the middle of the Twickenham changing room. For his side to do that, they must surpass the levels that South Africa produced last year: more aggression, more intensity, more control.

Tom Curry knows England have to up the intensity as the Six Nations gets underway (Getty)

That message has not been missed by his players. "As a team we need to go at France from zero to 80 and must be relentless,” said Tom Curry on the eve of ‘Le Crunch’, with the forward required more than anyone else to up the intensity given his switch to No 8. “Every tackle, every carry, every clean-out has to be done with the fullest intent we have."

There is also a degree of arrogant intelligence being applied. Part of the Springboks’ approach in Japan was to rest and rotate their front row. Rassie Erasmus’ six-two split on the bench in favour of the forwards meant that his props rarely played more than 50 minutes per game, keeping their legs fresh and bodies free from fatigue. When they fronted up against England, it was noticeable how much more they had left in the tank. With Jones tapping into that brainpower by recruiting their former forwards’ coach Matt Proudfoot, that new philosophy is already becoming clear to see. Mako Vunipola has been rested for the trip to Paris in order to have him firing on all cylinders against Scotland in six days’ time. Arrogant? Yes. Risky? You bet. But it could prove the difference when the business end arrives. There’s a reason why cars lose their value with miles on the clock, and the same is applied when it comes to rugby players.

Essentially it should be the same England that faces France, albeit with a few minor modifications. The Eddie Jones Project 2.0 starts on Sunday not with eyes on the next World Cup but with a firm desire to win the Grand Slam, yet the changes that get them there could take a while to seep through the team. Anything less than a Grand Slam will not be enough to satisfy what Jones has set out as England’s plan going forward, to be the greatest team the sport has ever seen. With expectations significantly higher and the foundations already in place, we’re about to see how great this team really is.