Eddie Jones eyes ‘golden opportunity’ to begin World Cup preparations in Paris

England will depart for Paris on Tuesday as Eddie Jones begins laying the foundations for next year’s World Cup challenge.

In a significant departure from their normal routine, the squad will spend the bulk of the week leading up to Saturday night’s climax to the Guinness Six Nations in the French capital.

Jones believes there is significant benefit to be gained from exposing his players as much as possible to the environment for the 2023 World Cup, which is being hosted exclusively by France.

“My experience of the tournament, particularly when you’re playing in different countries, is that the more you go there and learn how to cope with the different tempo and rhythm of the week and the nuances of the culture, the better prepared you are,” Jones said.

“This is a golden opportunity for us. We’re playing a big game at Stade de France to have some experience of playing in Paris. Preparing in Paris is different to say Lille or Bordeaux or Nice.

“It’s a big city and you’ve got to learn to find the right rhythm to your preparations in the week. That’s the golden opportunity for us.

“We’re still waiting for confirmation of our training base in France for next year, but we’ve done some good preliminary work.”

England face the Grand Slam-chasing World Cup hosts with the limited aim of finishing third after a 32-15 defeat by Ireland in round four removed them from title contention.

Jones has been spared the uproar that would have greeted a record loss at home to Ireland and another failed Six Nations by the resilience shown at Twickenham on Saturday, when the dismissal of Charlie Ewels a mere 82 seconds into the match inspired a rousing performance that only fell away in the closing stages.

There was much to admire in England’s