Jones’s claims of England progress ring hollow as France highlight gulf

You could measure the gap between England and France by the 12 points difference on the scoreboard. Or you could measure it by the inches between Ben Youngs’ outstretched hand and Antoine Dupont’s shorts as Youngs launched himself headfirst into a futile dive after the best player in the world and tried to drag him back as he cut England apart. You could measure it in the feet England were shoved backwards at the scrum just before half-time where they conceded yet another set-piece penalty, or you could measure it by the acres of space France found out on the right wing when they created the three-on-one overlap that led to their first try.

The answer’s the same either way: a lot, and more than England’s coach, Eddie Jones, is letting on.

Really, the best way to capture the distance between them might be in years. France have been building towards this grand slam ever since the last World Cup, when their current coach, Fabien Galthié, was already in place, deputy and heir apparent, to his predecessor, Jacques Brunel. In the years since, Galthié and his boss, Bernard Laporte, have turned France’s run at the World Cup they host next year into a national project. They haven’t just put together a team of coaches and a squad of players, but they have pulled in the Top 14 clubs and the French fans, too. There’s a sense that everyone’s pulling in the same direction.

So Galthié’s team have been three years in the making. Jones’s, on the other hand, feels like they have barely had three weeks. Somehow they are still starting out all over. That’s Jones’s choice, as he chops and drops and changes his backroom staff, his training squad and his match-day 23, while he tries to work out exactly what “new England” looks like. He keeps