London: England's growing strength in depth was underlined in bold at Twickenham as the influx of replacements in the last 20 minutes dragged the initiative from France and helped the Six Nations champions battle out a 19-16 victory.
England trailed 16-12 after an hour as Rabah Slimani scored the opening try for France, who had been the better team for most of the first half.
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Jones: I thought we would always win the game
England head coach Eddie Jones believed his side would always beat France in their Six Nations encounter, but conceded they were 'awful' on the day.
Within minutes coach Eddie Jones had virtually emptied his bench and the fresh men made an immediate impact.
Flanker James Haskell, who has played only a few minutes all season after toe surgery, prop Matt Mullan, winger Jack Nowell, scrumhalf Danny Care and burly centre Ben Te'o were all immediately involved in a sustained period of pressure, as was Maro Itoje, who seemed to get a second wind after being switched back to his preferred lock role after starting in the back row.
The relentless attack and fresh legs punched holes in the tiring French defence and Te'o blasted through one of them for the decisive try two minutes after coming on.
"The finishers made a fantastic impact on the game, we got really good value from them and that is the strength of our team, we have a brilliant 23-man squad," said Jones, who were without five first-team regulars.
Hooker and captain Dylan Hartley, who as usual gave way to Jamie George midway through the second half, agreed. "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," he said.
"Jamie George came on and our set-piece was outstanding, Matt Mullan came on and shored things up. Everyone who came on today added something to the performance."
![Impact player: Former NRL star Ben Te'o celebrates his try that gave England the momentum to win their opening Six ...](/web/20170205092243im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/5/o/q/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu5opd.png/1486272729903.jpg)
The strong finish could not, however, disguise the fact that England had been poor to the point of ragged in the first half and were lucky to reach the break at 9-9.
So there was no fanfare from Jones, despite chalking up a national record 15th successive victory.
![Disbelief: Louis Picamoles is devastated after the three-point loss to England.](/web/20170205092243im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/5/q/l/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu5opd.png/1486272729903.jpg)
"It doesn't get much uglier than that," said the coach, who during the week had called for his side to be "daring".
"We weren't our usual urgent selves and maybe I've got to look at the preparation I gave the team.
![No longer the easy beats: Scotland celebrate their win over Ireland.](/web/20170205092243im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/5/q/o/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu5opd.png/1486272729903.jpg)
"The performance was ugly, but the result is beautiful."
A losing bonus point and man of the match honours for number eight Louis Picamoles were scant consolation for France, who have won only one Six Nations game at Twickenham in 20 years.
"It was a very good performance from us but we lose again," he said. "We need to win and continue to work hard but it was a good performance.
"The positive to take is the spirit we had. We stayed strong the whole game against a strong side but we need to be more pragmatic and we need to take the points when we go on the attack."
Scotland hung on to upset Ireland 27-22 in a pulsating match at Murrayfield and secure their first opening day win in the Six Nations for over a decade.
Two late penalties from captain Greig Laidlaw snatched a victory for the Scots that was founded on a dazzling first-half display which pushed the hosts into a 21-8 lead at the break.
Fullback Stuart Hogg, the player of last year's tournament, scored Scotland's first two tries and centre Alex Dunbar dotted down for an unconventional third in a set move from a lineout.
Ireland winger Keith Earls crossed for Ireland in the opening period while lock Iain Henderson and five-eighth Paddy Jackson, a late replacement for Johnny Sexton, bagged tries in the second-half fightback which earned Ireland a losing bonus point.
"That was a cracking game," Hogg told the BBC. "We switched off a bit in the start of the second half but the boys are delighted with that result and a great way to kick off the Six Nations here at Murrayfield.
"The boys stuck to it but credit to Ireland - they were fantastic in the second half."
Laidlaw said his team were "a changed group" after his side, so often the gallant losers, held on to upset the Irish.
"We are a changed group and we want to drive this whole thing forward," said Laidlaw, who landed two penalties in the final 10 minutes to secure Saturday's win.
"When we pull these jerseys on at home, we don't want to get beat anymore."
Reuters