The toughest Six Nations to call in years they said.

And this time it looks like called it right.

Two matches, both in doubt until the final five minutes and a total winning margin of just eight points across both games.

Italy v Wales tomorrow?

Of course you are.

See you there.

Image source, Rex Features

England coach Eddie Jones on BBC Radio 5 live: We were disjointed in attack and we lacked urgency in defence. 

"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. 

"We want to be attacking but the try we scored was a fantastic effort and we could have scored another one. 

"Now we know what we've got to work on, we will get there. 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 worries about is Wales. We will watch them play Italy tomorrow and take it from there." 

Image source, Getty Images

England coach Eddie Jones talking to ITV Sport: "Sometimes these things happen, it is a game of rugby and there are humans involved. We made some silly handling errors, but we have some great finishers on the bench, we got really good value from them.

"The good thing for us is that we can shift around with Elliot Daly and Ben Te'o giving the French something different to look at in the centres.

"The performance was ugly, but the result is beautiful."

Image source, PA

England captain Dylan Hartley: "Plenty to work on. We got through that one and a huge amount of credit needs to go to our finishers today. Ben Te'o and James Haskell gave us some go forward at the end there.

"Week one of the tournament we'll take that win, but there's plenty to work on. We need to be a bit more clinical with ball in hand and not so passive in defence. They made a lot of yards out wide on us. 

"Jamie George came on and our set-piece was outstanding, Matt Mullen came on and shored things up. Everyone that came on today added something to the performance.  

"It keeps us grounded, keeps us ready for next week and we'll have to be a lot better to prepare for Wales."

Harlequins and England Saxons prop Mark Lambert: "Despite losing, the French come out of the Championship's first day as runaway attacking leaders statistically speaking. If they can cut down their errors and improve their discipline they will be a force this year."

England came off second best in all statistics except penalties and turnovers conceded and kicks in play. In the end, that made the difference.

Kenny Kong:, external Unconvincing but a win is a win for England, especially when it's a history-making one.

Adam Thomas: Edgy game - much better in the last 20 mins. England off the mark!

David Mollard: All you can say is, thank you France! 

Image source, Getty

Man of the match Louis Picamoles: "It was a very good performance from us but we lose again. We need to win and continue to work hard but its a good performance. 

"Congrats to England but we are going to work harder for next week. 

"Positive to take is the spirit we had. We stayed strong the whole game against a strong side but we need to work hard - we need to remain more pragmatic and we need to take the points when we go on the attack."

Image source, Getty Images

Louis Picamoles - named as the man of the match - offered the sprinkling of stardust despite being on the losing side. One hundred and twenty-two metres made, seven defenders beaten, four offloads, five tackles and a turnover won. 

Relentless.

Matt Dawson
2003 World Cup winner on BBC Radio 5 live

France were better than England in a lot of areas, but the strength of this England side was in their fitness and ability to play under pressure. 

They are unbeaten for the last 15 games, so it was always going to be tough for France to take it through to 80 minutes.

I have got to give huge credit to the substitutions for England because they were the difference in the end.

The battle of the bench belonged to England.

Image source, Rex Features

Brian Moore
Former England hooker

Louis Picamoles looks distraught there and that's because France for the most part were they better team. They could not put away the several breaks they did make. 

England, with one moment of clarity, managed to go ahead. They say "just win your first game in the Six Nations" and England JUST won it, but they did win it. 

If winning when you are not playing well is the mark of a great side, this is one of the all-time teams.

A real runt of a performance from Eddie Jones' side - the worst of his reign by a distance.

But England have a W on the board.

France are up over halfway and they have an advantage in their back pocket.

The ref calls it back. But Jean-Marc Doussain misses touch!

An inexplicable error.

France have to rebuild from their own 22m.