Replacement Ben Te'o's last-gasp try scrambled defending champion England to a 19-16 Six Nations win over arch-rival France on a thrilling opening day in the tournament. Despite England extending their national record of 15 straight wins, coach Eddie Jones was left bemoaning the "club mentality" of some players after watching France stretch the favorites to the limit in the win at Twickenham. Lackluster England was in trouble at 16-12 behind after France replacement Rabah Slimani scored the game's first try on the hour. France, edged out by Australia and world champion New Zealand in November, again gave up its lead. Te'o's 71st-minute try, converted by Owen Farrell, tipped the game. Victory saw the England XV surpass the national best of 14 wins in a row they had shared with the 2002-03 side that went on to win the 2003 World Cup. Jones said Te'o's try had been "fantastic". But the Australian coach told the BBC: "I felt some players were still in their club mentality so that's something we need to work on — I don't think I prepared the team as well as I could have done." A scrappy first half which saw England wing Jonny May sin-binned for a dangerous tackle ended all square at 9-9. Camille Lopez's three successful penalties for France were cancelled out by two from England centre Owen Farrell and a huge 48-meter kick by Elliot Daly. Another Farrell penalty made it 12-9 before the tries arrived in the closing stages. France scored a deserved try with Lopez making a jinking run before flanker Kevin Gourdon sent in Slimani for a score by the posts. Lopez converted and France led by four points. But front row Slimani gave away a scrum penalty that set up an England line-out inside France's 22. Farrell's pass found Te'o, who had only been on the field a few minutes, and he went in from close range on the over-lap. Farrell converted and England saw out the closing minutes to extend Jones unbeaten run as national coach. "Now we know what we've got to work on, we will get there," said Jones. "The finishers made a fantastic impact on the game, that is the strength of our team, we have a brilliant 23 man squad. "Looking forward, all we are worried about is Wales. We will watch them play Italy tomorrow and take it from there." Cotter's Ireland counterpart Joe Schmidt added: "Scotland got a flying start, really impressive, and Vern Cotter has obviously done some great work with them." — Reuters
