Eddie Jones targets top ranking for England after Tour de France visit

Eddie Jones believes England have to constantly seek improvement in all facets of the game if they are to become the top-ranked team in the world.

Jones, who was on a visit to Tour de France spent Sunday in the Pyrenees observing the Orica GreenEDGE team prepare for their 185km race. Citing the professionalism exhibited by the team, Jones was also impressed by their mental toughness and the ability to recover from the grueling task.

"It was just the professionalism of the preparation, really good individually before the ride, during the ride the information that each rider gets and post the ride the debriefing they did," said Jones, who spent time at Lord's with the England cricketers on Tuesday.

"Also the way that they set up, the preparation, it just shows that we've done some good things in rugby but there's still a long way to go.

"There is almost a race behind the bike race as the cars with the head coaches drive behind the bikes giving instructions and water. It's quite incredible - just the toughness of the riders and what they do.

"They've done that nine days in a row and they were talking about their recovery, so they had recovery Monday and they'll ride for an hour and half to recover. That's professional."

The former Australian coach took over the role from Stuart Lancaster following England's World Cup debacle in 2015 and has transformed the side into genuine match-winners which saw them climb to the second position in the World Rugby Rankings.

Ever since, the 56-year-old took over the team, England have won all the nine games, including a Grand Slam victory in the 2016 Six Nations and also completing a 3-0 series whitewash against the Wallabies in Australia for the first time.

Impressed with the character shown by the team in Australia, Jones also warned England against complacency as they now head into home Tests against South Africa, Fiji, Argentina and the Wallabies.

"It's definitely evolving," he said. "To me the hardest game that we had on tour was the last Test. It was difficult for us, as we've won 2-0 and Australia had nothing to lose and they're giving it everything.

"Our guys had been up since last June and I could see physically during the week that there were signs of wear and tear in the players. So to put in that effort mentally, more than physically, is what we need.

"It's what we were talking about with the Tour de France. Those guys go up that first slope for 45 minutes, it was tiring enough driving up there, and then they've got to keep going for another four-and-a-half hours. That's not physical toughness, that's mental toughness, and our guys exhibited that which was really pleasing.

"But you're never there. It only takes one thing to change, one person to come into the squad and change the dynamics, so it is something that we've always got to be aware of as complacency is always around the corner."

Jones is likely to announce the 45-man Elite Player Squad in October.