France must not get carried after beating England, while Ireland will need to bolster their defence at Twickenham
When the post-match debate centres on whether England were poorer in Murrayfield or Paris, there is definitely trouble at mill. They never looked remotely likely to score the four tries required to retain a mathematical interest in the Six Nations title race and it would have been distinctly rough justice on France had the visitors sneaked home late on in Saint Denis. One or two England players felt afterwards they might have received a penalty for French defenders going off their feet at the final ruck under the posts; it would still not have erased the horrors of the previous 79 minutes. In many ways this was even worse than Edinburgh; until the latter stages, Eddie Jones’s side made barely any consistent attacking headway and will need a dramatic improvement to topple the Grand Slam-chasing Ireland. The last time England lost three Six Nations games on the trot was 12 years ago. Robert Kitson
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Team of the weekend
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