England ended 2016 undefeated under Eddie Jones' leadership having secured a Grand Slam and a 3-0 series win in Australia. But the caveat was that England had yet to face New Zealand and in 2017 that would have to wait another year.
But Jones - forever bullish - had repeatedly said England hadn't even hit top form yet and the first task was retaining the Six Nations with the prospect of back-to-back Grand Slams frequently talked up by pundits and analysts.
In 2016 some players had improved (Robshaw, Joseph), others had come in from the cold (Hartley, Haskell) and Jones handed out debuts to young talents (Itoje, Daly).
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