England celebrated a Six Nations Grand Slam on Saturday night, their first since 2003, but new coach Eddie Jones is already targeting new challenges as he attempts to guide England to the summit of world rugby.
His side made it five wins out of five in his first tournament in charge as they beat France 31-21 in Paris. The win "completed a remarkable journey from World Cup pool flops to grand slam champions but Jones is already eyeing bigger and better things", says The Guardian.
Asked about his hopes for the summer tour to Australia, Jones said he was hoping England could win 3-0 and made it clear he would not allow his team to dwell on their recent success.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
"Look, it is fantastic to get a grand slam, fantastic to win the Six Nations, but we want to be the number one team in the world," he said. "To do that we have to go down to Australia, beat Australia and then we will have started getting on the road. In the next two to three years, we'll have a side to beat the All Blacks."
He is right to look ahead rather than backwards, says Owen Slot of The Times. "The [Six Nations] tournament has been a stinker. Yet the point on which everyone around the England team seems to agree is that this should be just the start... The weight of their history as serial underperformers fell from them on Saturday night. They can build, now, on a foundation of success rather than uncertainty.
"For those who still dispute the quality of this grand-slam achievement, the Australia tour will give real, definitive answers."
But spare a thought for former coach Stuart Lancaster, says Brian Moore in the Daily Telegraph. He "must have watched Saturday’s Grand Slam win in Paris with mixed emotions".
"Joy, that many of his former selections were vindicated, yet frustration and regret that he was not able to claim the prize just captured. In terms of quality his England side produced more fluency in last year’s championship and what might England have done in the World Cup with Billy Vunipola, Dylan Hartley and Manu Tuilagi all available?"
