England coach Jones jumps to defence of Saints full-back George Furbank

George Furbank in action for England during their defeat to France in Paris on Sunday

Head coach Eddie Jones has jumped to the defence of George Furbank following the Saints player's testing international debut against France at the Stade de France on Sunday.

England opened their Six Nations account with an error-strewn performance and a 24-17 defeat, with a late rally giving the final score some gloss as they were at one point 24-0 down.

Furbank has been criticised in some quarters for his performance, and he did make a few mistakes in difficult conditions, but Jones feels it is unfair to single out the 23-year-old who was thrown into the fray for his test debut on a tough afternoon.

Plenty of other England players, including skipper Owen Farrell, struggled with their handling on a rainy and windswept day in Paris, and Jones has vowed to support Furbank.

The Saints Academy product has been retained in the squad for this Saturday's trip to Edinburgh to take on Scotland, and will find out on Thursday if he has retained his place in the starting XV.

But even if he doesn't, Jones says he will back Furbank, and insisted he thought the player had a 'good' game against the French.

"Coaching is about helping players get better," said the Australian.

"What do you think I'm going to do? Say: 'George you're absolute rubbish get out of here, go back to Northampton, work in the shoe factory?'

"What am I going to say to him? Of course I'm going to help him become a better player, and I thought he was good against France."