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Jones happy after England's perfect year, but demands more

By Mitch Phillips LONDON (Reuters) - It should have come as no surprise but Eddie Jones was not resting on his laurels after watching his England team beat Australia 37-21 on Saturday to complete a perfect year of 13 victories since he took charge. Jones, like everyone else in the stadium, was decidedly unimpressed by an opening 20 minutes in which his team barely touched the ball and, but for the television match official, could have been 30 points down. The fact that they regrouped and took total command to win the second half 25-6 was testament to the players' growing confidence and self-belief - and to Jones’s influence. "We were strangely quiet in the warm-up and you just sensed the players were nervous. We were scatty and we were terrible in the first 20... I don't think we could have tried to play any worse than we did," Jones said. "I was really pleased with our composure and ability to react and in the second half we did the basics really well. It's a good step forwards for us but we still have a hell of a lot of work to do to be the best team in the world," the Australian added. "We are progressing but we have a long way to go to get to number one. We have the talent, it's whether we get the desire and cohesion right." Jones was pleased to see outside centre Jonathan Joseph score two tries having been briefly dropped earlier in the autumn series, and by the impressive display of Nathan Hughes in his first start. "We’re building the depth of the team and we know we need to, that's why I was so pleased to see Nathan Hughes come in and do so well today," he said of the number eight who was standing in for injured Billy Vunipola. "We were probably missing seven influential players and Australia were probably at full strength." Saturday's win came after the three-game series sweep of Jones's home country in June. "To beat the third-ranked country in the world 4-0 is fantastic," he said. "But we'll have a de-brief tomorrow to go through things with individuals to see what they have to do to get better." Captain Dylan Hartley said the first half had been frustrating. "But the way we came back was testament to the guys. They work hard and improve every week. It was a different challenge and we found a way to win. We are very happy," he said. "We will enjoy tonight. We have worked very hard together and there is plenty to work on. Next time we meet up it will be a new challenge." (Editing by Ed Osmond)