England rugby coach Eddie Jones paid tribute on Wednesday to the way his all-conquering players developed in 2016 when they swept all before them to win 13 successive matches.
The Australian has overseen an astonishing revival in English fortunes after getting the job following a woeful World Cup display on home soil which led to the sacking of Stuart Lancaster.
Jones believes his players have become much more robust in taking the on-field decisions that brought a Six Nations grand slam followed by an unprecedented series whitewash in Australia and a clean sweep in the November internationals.
"The players have really changed, they are much more robust, more self-reliant," said Jones.
"They can make decisions on the pitch by themselves, and we are seeing them (do that) in difficult games."
Jones admitted they were hard-pressed to beat Scotland 15-9 in his first match in charge, a fierce Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield, when he said they just did enough to get home.
"We got the points and got a lot of confidence from that. I can remember getting out of the bus at the ground and this little Scotland fan was shouting out at the top of his voice 'we're going to stuff you guys, we're going to stuff you guys'," Jones said.
"That was the start of being part of that intense Six Nations rivalry between teams."
England, on an unbeaten run of 14 matches including the win over Uruguay in their last World Cup game, completed the grand slam with a 31-21 victory in Paris and begin their new campaign against France at Twickenham on February 4.
Jones played down his own role in England's marvellous year.
"The players deserve 90 per cent of the credit and the other 10 per cent goes to the staff who work very well," he said.
"We're lucky with England that we have got very good support staff, with Steve Borthwick, Paul Gustard and now Neil Hatley's doing a terrific job."
FAT HANSEN says
In-form England are capable of breaking New Zealand's record of 18 successive test wins, provided they maintain mental discipline, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said on Wednesday.
Hansen's men set their 18-match benchmark by defeating Australia in October before Ireland snapped the winning streak with a famous victory in Chicago last month.
England have won 14 tests on the trot and can surpass the All Blacks if they sweep all five of their matches in the Six Nations tournament early next year.
"Of course they can, if they've got the mental fortitude to get up every week and play well," Hansen told Radio Sport when asked if England could do it.
He expected England to defeat Italy and Scotland, conceding Ireland, France and Wales were "toughies" but beatable if England repeated their 2016 Grand Slam heroics.
"We know they're capable of beating them, they went through the last year undefeated. It's there for them to have a crack at," Hansen said.
The All Blacks' winning run stretched from August 2015 until the Ireland defeat on November 5 and Hansen said staying mentally sharp over such a long period was difficult.
"It's obviously a very tough thing to do from a preparation and mental point of view without sub-consciously letting complacency slip in," he said.
He believed England's 2015 World Cup trauma – when they became the only host nation bundled out in the pool stages – and their no-nonsense Australian coach Eddie Jones would keep them focused.
"The one thing England have in their favour is that they've had a lot of adversity," he said.
"That World Cup really hurt those players and they've got a steely determination to want to do better and a coach who's driving it.
"That's a good combination to put a lot of wins together."
