Eddie Jones approved the Rugby Football Union’s attempt to structure a last-minute deal to face world champions New Zealand this autumn, only to see the plans shelved after the All Blacks chose to play the Barbarians at Twickenham instead.

The decision by the New Zealand Rugby Union to face the invitational side instead means that England will play the All Blacks just once in five years, having not faced off since their November 2014 clash at Twickenham. With the calendar not pitting them against one another until the 2018 autumn internationals, England will have played the best side in the world just once before the 2019 Rugby World Cup, despite head coach Jones’s desire to test his side against them.

“It came up in conversation,” RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie said on Friday. “I asked Eddie if he wanted to play this game if there was a possibility of doing it, even if it was difficult to arrange because there of the economic discussions with New Zealand and PRL. Eddie said yes, absolutely.

“They felt they wanted to play the Barbarians rather than have a tough tier one fixture. It's as a simple as that.”

He added: “I had discussions at the behest of Eddie, not because of any economics. The clear reason for me and the only reason for having this match was because Eddie wanted to have it. This was not driven by economics. Was it possible to stage and was it the right thing to achieve that for the fans, because Eddie wanted it and the opportunity was there. It was a New Zealand choice of whether they wanted to play us or the Barbarians.”

Ritchie also explained how the scenario came about, given that England have already scheduled games against Australia, Samoa and Argentina this autumn.

“We approved an Australia v Barbarians game in September 2016, that was the only game that we were prepared to approve in that window,” he explained. “It was clear on the calendar that there was no space to have a Barbarians game. There was no wish for the All Blacks to have a game either.

“That was the situation until an opportunity came up when there was apparently a willingness to move a previously approved game from Twickenham to Adelaide, which is what the Barbarians and Australia were discussing to do. I felt there was an opportunity to have a discussion with [NZRU chairman] Steve Tew whether or not we can play the All Blacks.”

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

The clamour for a game between the first and second team in the World Rugby rankings has grown since England equalled New Zealand’s 18-match winning streak, a run of games that was ended last weekend in the Six Nations defeat by Ireland, who coincidentally also ended the All Blacks’ run last October in Chicago.

With two-and-a-half years already passing since England suffered a narrow 24-21 defeat in their last encounter, fans are desperate for the two sides to meet again, with Jones previously admitting that the reigning Rugby World Cup holders are “there for the taking”.