Eddie Jones’s inconsistent England stand in way of French grand slam

As Voltaire put it: “Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats”. The great French philosopher might just as well have been referencing Eddie Jones’s England before their final leg of a hitherto unrewarding 2022 Six Nations voyage. Paris is never an easy place to go, let alone for sides whose title hopes have, in effect, already left the harbour on a P&O ferry.

Compared with France, seeking to seal their first grand slam since 2010, England have had a consistently turbulent passage since they initially embarked for a storm-lashed Scotland last month. Murrayfield misery has been followed by last week’s Twickenham tribulations and now here they are needing to beat Europe’s best side, in Paris, to avoid finishing in the bottom half of the championship for the second year in a row.

Keep singing, indeed. Lose by the length of the Champs-Élysées under the Stade de France floodlights and, Italy aside, the 2019 World Cup finalists will have managed just two wins (both at home) in eight Six Nations fixtures over the past two seasons. Against Scotland, Wales and Ireland this year they have scored a total of two tries. No wonder there is a sink or swim feel to their final fixture.

Related: France hold off spirited Ireland fightback to win Six Nations thriller

Either way, those who reappointed Jones for a second term as England’s head coach will be feeling twitchy. If France do win a slam, no England coach will have flown back with a more pot-holed championship record for 15 years. Admittedly England did win the 2020 title on the rebound from the World Cup but, with Jones’s squad having also finished fifth in 2018, the sense of underachievement relative to their resources is growing. For every forward step