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Modernity hurt French flair, says England coach Jones

England's head coach Eddie Jones answers questions during a press conference at Twickenham stadium in south west London on January 20, 2017

It's a question many rugby fans inside and outside France have asked themselves in recent years -- whatever happened to 'French flair'? But for England coach Eddie Jones, whose Grand Slam champions begin the defence of their Six Nations against France at Twickenham on February 4, the answer is simple: modern rugby. Whether it was Jo Maso in the 1960s and 1970s, the astonishing Serge Blanco in the 1980s or Philippe Saint-Andre -- who finished off a stunning length-of-the-field move for one of the best tries ever seen at Twickenham in 1991 and three years later launched 'the try from the end of the world' that led to world champions New Zealand's last defeat at Auckland's Eden Park, France seemed to have an unending supply of players who could create something out of nothing. As a rugby-loving schoolboy in Sydney in the 1970s, Jones, who turns 57 later this month, was a fan of France's "beautiful" rugby. "The (Six Nations) games I always enjoyed watching most were England versus France, because you always had that contrast in style," said Jones after unveiling his tournament squad at Twickenham on Friday. "The English were more attritional and France, particularly in those days, used to play deep and wide. Their outside backs would run the most beautiful lines. "I remember our teacher at school, a great rugby coach –- he used to come in and rave about the French outside backs’ running lines." - 'Killer defence' - Yet lately, including Saint-Andre's ill-fated spell as France coach from 2011-15, 'French flair' has become increasingly rare, although Jones has detected something of a resurgence under current boss Guy Noves in their recent narrow defeats by Australia and New Zealand. So what changed? "Well, it’s modern rugby," said former Australia and Japan coach Jones. "The great thing about Noves is that he is starting to get that back into their game, but you can’t play deep and lateral now; defences just kill you. "In the old days you could play like that because eight forwards would put their heads in the ruck, so you only had seven defenders. Now you’ve got 15 (a whole team) defenders." He added: "It takes an evolution of how you bring your own national style out in the modern game. "That’s what we’re trying to do with England –- keep the traditional style but make it modern. So you don’t go away from your strengths but you add to that and then develop a game you can play in the modern game, because the modern game is different to the old game." England are on a 14-match winning streak and their last fixture of 2016 saw them score four tries, including two for centre Jonathan Joseph, in a 37-21 victory over Australia at Twickenham. But Jones, a lifelong cricket fan, played down suggestions England were now more daring and thus 'more French' than France themselves. "Daring doesn’t mean flair," said Jones. "Flair to me is (former England international) Allan Lamb batting –- trying to do the most outrageous things -- or a Twenty20 reverse-sweep. "Daring to me is having the mindset of going out there to win the game, not relying on the opposition to make mistakes -- we take it to the opposition, this is what we’re going to do, if we do it well enough then we’re going to win the game, rather than waiting, holding, hoping that they’re going to make mistakes." Jones, who has won all 13 of his games in charge since becoming England coach following the 2015 World Cup, believes his side have still to embrace that approach fully. "The first couple of games (last year) we were quite reticent to play any rugby," he said. "We got better against Ireland and Wales and we went back into our shell against France again. "That’s the challenge ahead, we’ve got a short period of time to change mindsets but I think we can do that."