England must persevere with Jones’ plan, insists Carter

England must not lose faith with Eddie Jones’ plan despite a poor run of results, according to legendary former New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter.

Jones’ men opened their three-Test series against South Africa with a thrilling 42-39 defeat on Saturday, despite having lead 24-3 in the early exchanges at Ellis Park.

The loss was England’s fifth in succession, including one at the hands of the Barbarians two weeks prior, coming on the back of Six Nations reverses to Scotland, France and Ireland.

After 25 victories from his first 26 matches in charge, Jones’ methods are beginning to come under question but Carter, who won the 2015 World Cup with the All Blacks, believes there is no need to panic, just over a year out from the 2019 finals in Japan.

Behind the scenes on game day 

 Johannesburg  pic.twitter.com/EMayOHXU8c

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 10, 2018

“Obviously they’re getting a bit of a hard time at the moment after their Six Nations performances,” Carter said. “So, I think they’ll learn a lot from that.

“Eddie Jones is a smart, tactical coach, and he’ll have a strategy and plan even though he’s been put under a bit of pressure from the Six Nations.

“He has to stick to his plan and his long-term plan to get the best out of the players at the World Cup. He has to stay strong, they’ve definitely got the players there.

“As long as they can stay tight and connected as a team, they will be one of the top teams when the tournament comes around next year.”

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