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Eddie Jones described England’s three-match losing streak as “quite natural” and paid tribute to Ireland after they completed a Six Nations Grand Slam at Twickenham on Saturday.
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Jones had vowed to gain revenge for Ireland’s win over England in Dublin last year, which denied them a clean sweep and halted their record-equalling 18-match winning run.
Ireland were not to be denied a third Grand Slam 12 months later, Jacob Stockdale scoring his seventh try of the tournament – a Six Nations record – in a 24-15 victory in the London snow.
The 2016 and 2017 champions have now lost three games in a row after being beaten in only one of the previous 25 Tests since Jones took charge.
The Australian, who this week apologised after footage emerged of him calling the Irish “scummy”, said he is not overly alarmed by their slide after suffering the first home defeat of his tenure.
“It’s obviously disappointing, but you go through these little runs, you just have to stick to the process.” the England head coach told ITV Sport when asked about England’s poor run.
“We’ve got to keep working at our game. It’s quite natural for a team to go through a run like this, it’s not good but it’s a natural thing.”
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It's full time at Twickenham and @IrishRugby have beaten England to secure the #GrandSlam. pic.twitter.com/q770tmr4wB
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 17, 2018
Jones felt his side did not do themselves any favours and gave credit to the new champions.
He added: “We gave them too many penalties, allowed them to get too big a lead.
“It’s disappointing, there was no lack of effort but we struggled to execute at certain times. I thought our players really stuck at it but we gave them too big a lead.
“They [Ireland] are a good, tough team, well coached, very well disciplined. They play to their strengths and [are] very worthy Grand Slam winners.”
