England face France in the Six Nations on Saturday, gunning for an unlikely Grand Slam in Eddie Jones's first campaign as coach and six months after the side was humiliated at the Rugby World Cup.
"England have improved steadily but Jones has enjoyed an exceptional start to his tenure as head coach," says Stuart Barnes in The Times. But anything other than victory against France will be a huge disappointment, even though England have been confirmed as Six Nations champions.
"Jones doesn't seem to give much of a damn about the championship... In global terms the teams England have been beating have been little more than tiddlers and he knows it.
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"The championship is already history, the grand slam a staging post along the road to the 2019 World Cup in Japan."
But it will be a different story if England do slip up, writes Will Greenwood in the Daily Telegraph. He was part of the England setup that missed out on five opportunities to win a Grand Slam between 1998 and 2002. Fortunately, the World Cup win of 2003 means that team is remembered for other reasons.
"The reality and rarity of success is highlighted clearly by the ease with which a chance can be blown," he says, warning that the burden of expectation is also a challenge.
France have been average in the tournament but possess great individual talents who will be determined to win Le Crunch.
"No team likes a Grand Slam to be won on their turf; no side will want to watch as their opponents do a victory lap in their own stadium, least of all Les Bleus," says Greenwood.
The key is sustained pressure, he says, as it will expose the French lack of cohesion in defence.
England will be up against an attack that is the "dullest in the tournament", says Dean Ryan in The Guardian. France's habit of sending big men into contact will play to England's strengths.
Jones has tried to get England to play more off the cuff, and they are likely to get the opportunity this weekend.
"This new, opportunistic mentality should help England capitalise on France's disjointed, off-load obsessed attacking game as turnovers will be there to be won," he says.
And England really should triumph, says Jeremy Guscott of the BBC. "In truth I just can't see France threatening... There has not been any indication that this side has it in them.
"By contrast, you go through the England squad and a lot of them are playing some of the best international rugby of their careers."
