Unsentimental Eddie has England exceeding expectations

With nine wins in nine matches, Jones has turned largely the same squad shamefully ejected in the pool stage of their own World Cup last October into Six Nations grand slam champions and unprecedented vanquishers of the Wallabies.

Jones was determined the tour of Australia would be no end of season jolly and the result was a first home series sweep of the Wallabies by any side for 45 years and the installation of England as unquestionably the second best team in the world.

The first test in Brisbane was won by street smarts, the second in Melbourne on defensive guts and the third in Sydney with a performance of great composure and discipline.

Australia made much of the fact that they won the 'try count' in two of the three tests but Jones will not care a jot about that as he looks to instil a pragmatism to match that of the All Blacks in his side.

Indeed, his only regret might be that having secured England's first ever series win in Australia, he will be unable to test his team against the absolute benchmark of international rugby until 2018.

Jones has barely put a foot wrong in the series, winning the media battle with his former Randwick club mate Michael Cheika off the pitch and outwitting the Wallabies coach on it.

ONLY STARTING

When he did make mistakes in selection he fixed them decisively, bringing on George Ford for Luther Burrell after half an hour in Brisbane and dumping flanker Teimana Harrison after a similar spell in Sydney.

There were no sentimental caps for unused players in the final, dead-rubber test and Jones spent the last week of the tour publicly demanding that his players kept their foot on the neck of his compatriots until the end.

Owen Farrell, whether wearing the number 10 or number 12 shirt, looked as deadly with the boot as Jonny Wilkinson ever did and converted 23 of his 26 kicks in the series for 66 points.

Billy Vunipola was England's rock in the back row and Cheika can only have looked on with envy at the emergence of a big, versatile forward talent in Maro Itoje.

English sports fans of whatever code are often accused of getting carried away with any success but it should not be forgotten that England had previously won just three of 17 matches against the Wallabies in Australia.

"It's a significant achievement," Jones said.

"It's a great start for us but only a start. If we're aiming to be the best team in the world, which we are, we need to be more consistent. And we'll get that, we'll work very hard to get that over the next three years."

England's players are already used to the "but" which inevitably follows every positive comment from Jones but they can head off on holiday with the satisfaction of a job well done while their coach plots the next step for his history men.