England are Six Nations champions again, they are well on course to complete “phase one” of Eddie Jones’s four year plan with flying colours and they once again look like a side capable of challenging in the latter stages of a Rugby World Cup.

But are they any better that at the start of the Six Nations?

“Were we at our best in the Six Nations? No it was tough for us,” Jones admitted. “We started the tournament without half our forward pack, our first choice forward pack, it really tested our depth. We had players come through exceptionally well.

“I think we’ve improved the depth of the squad. At times we played some good rugby, at times we played some ordinary rugby. At the end of the day we’ve got back-to-back Six Nations championship trophies which is a fine achievement.”

And when the question was put to him? “100%. Learned more about the players, our team’s developed. Our team’s becoming more self-reliant.”

Take each point one at a time. Have England improved the depth of their squad? Yes. Have they played some good rugby, and some ordinary rugby? Definitely. And there’s no argument against the back-to-back titles, even if the Grand Slam slipped through their grasp in Dublin.

But that last point about learning more from this squad of players who are, apparently, becoming “more self-reliant” raises eyebrows. England passed two early tests in fighting from behind on the scoreboard to defeat France and Wales. While they were two games that England expected to win, given their unbeaten run under Jones, France demonstrated that they have rapidly improved under Guy Noves while Wales are not a fifth-place calibre side, no matter what the Six Nations table says.

Jones admitted that they needed a “get out of jail free card” to win those games, but that is testament to his side’s strength in depth, resilience and never knowing when they’re beat.

But two other key points in the championship oppose the Australian’s self-reliance claim. The first, the 36-15 win over Italy, sees the return of ‘ruckgate’. Italy chose to employ a tactic of not competing at the breakdown and thus removing any rucks or offside lines. It took England until after half-time to work out how to conquer these tactics, despite messages being passed onto the field during the first half.

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The second point came in the finale defeat by Ireland. England were not able to alter their game in order to combat Ireland’s superior areas, namely the lineout and the tackle. The introduction of Peter O’Mahony to the starting line-up, a last-minute decision after Jamie Heaslip was injured in the warm-up, completely changed Ireland’s lineout plan, and left England scratching their heads. What was noticeable was not just that the Irish were able to disrupt and steal the English throw, but that England did not challenge whenever Rory Best threw into the lineout, instead opting to contest the driving maul. This was none more clearer than when in the 78th minute and inside their own 22, needing to go 80m to score the try they needed to win the Grand Slam, England chose not to compete for possession on the Irish throw.

Six Nations top 10 players Show all 10 1 /10 Six Nations top 10 players Six Nations top 10 players 10. Camille Lopez (France) Dangerous cross-field kick nearly led to a chance for Nakataici in the first-half. He kicked well, although anything beyond 40m looked to be out of his range. Missed just one kick, which was forgivable. AFP/Getty Images Six Nations top 10 players 9. Kevin Gourdon (France) France have found their natural replacement for Thierry Dusautoir as Gourdon once again displayed his talents in the win over Italy. He carried well for more than 50 metres, and did his job in defence to slow down the Italian attack at the breakdown. Getty Six Nations top 10 players 8. Finn Russell (Scotland) Finn Russell touched down in the first half Getty Six Nations top 10 players 7. Dan Biggar (Wales) About as good a defensive display as you will see from a full-back. Made an exceptional 14 tackles as Nathan Hughes tried to ram the ball down his throat, and his interception on his own line saved Wales from conceding and gained them 80m in the process. Unlucky not to bag himself a try, as the combination of Nowell, Daly and a forward pass robbed him of three chances to score. Getty Six Nations top 10 players 6. Ken Owens (Wales) It wasn’t really a tournament where the hookers blossomed, so Owens makes the cut as a best of a bad bunch option. Jamie George impressed off the bench for England but saw too little game time, while Rory Best was only able to deliver on the final weekend. Fraser Brown had a solid start, but his yellow card against England cost his side dear and he was dropped for the finale against Italy. Getty Six Nations top 10 players 5. CJ Stander (Ireland) CARDIFF, WALES - MARCH 10: CJ Stander of Ireland runs with the ball during the RBS Six Nations match between Wales v Ireland at the Principality Stadium on March 10, 2017 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images) Getty Six Nations top 10 players 4. Baptiste Serin (France) Looked to try and seize his chance after being handed his first start, and didn’t do himself a disservice. That said, he didn’t do anything to stand out and was outnumbered when Youngs and Daly ran down his channel. Getty Six Nations top 10 players 3. Conor Murray (Ireland) EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 04: Ireland player Conor Murray in action during the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield Stadium on February 4, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) Getty Six Nations top 10 players 2. Louis Picamoles (France) Player of the round? That may be the case, as even though France failed to win on Saturday, Picamoles was on another level to the other 29 starters at Twickenham. Gained the most metres of any man in the encounter, outrunning the entire English pack by nearly 30 metres. Getty Six Nations top 10 players 1. Rhys Webb (Wales) It was the Welshman who came out on top in the battle of the Lions hopefuls, given that Conor Murray saw his match ended prematurely through an arm injury. Webb didn’t have it all his way, but his pass to Halfpenny that set-up North’s try was sublime and he also spotted the gap to send the win over for his second. He’s quickly becoming the most attacking scrum-half in the world. Getty

This does not meet the criteria for self-reliance, not by any stretch. It is the complete opposite as it shows England were unable to logically put together a Plan B in order to try and defeat Ireland, as well as Italy.

The positives that were gained during the championship were the return from injury of the Vunipola brothers, the emergence of Elliot Daly as a Test-calibre player and the demonstration of England’s world class options in the second-row by Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury excelling in place of Maro Itoje – shifted to blindside flanker – and the injured George Kruis.