England captain Jamie George says his side are “in a very good place” after ending their Autumn Nations Series by thrashing Eddie Jones’ Japan at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

The nine-try win ensured Steve Borthwick’s side avoided six straight losses and ended their autumn campaign with a victory after close defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

England held leads over both the All Blacks and the Wallabies before failing to close out the victory, with both games going down to the final play.

“The plan is very, very clear, we’re being coached very, very well, but we’re not able to put it out on the field for 80 minutes,” George told BBC 5 Live.

“There’s so much to be proud of over four performances, I think we put some of the best teams in the world under a lot of pressure.

“We arguably could have won all three of those games. The team is in a very good place.”

England have lost seven games this year, with only only two of those defeats – against world champions South Africa and Scotland in this year’s Six Nations – being by more than one score.

Borthwick has used 2024 to blood new talent after a number of his core squad called time on their international careers following the third-place finish at last year’s Rugby World Cup.

Northampton Saints wing Ollie Sleightholme, 24, debuted in July and scored his fourth international try against Jones’ Japan, with his Saints team-mate Tommy Freeman, 23, establishing himself as a regular.

Freeman provided arguably the moment of the match against the Brave Blossoms with a behind-the-back pass to full-back George Furbank, who has also become a regular in the backline this year.

“We have got such a brilliant squad who are so easy to lead,” the England hooker said.

“The thing that excites me the most is how far we can take this team when you look at the age and cap demographic.

“It is a very, very exciting team.”

Fly-half Marcus Smith is at the forefront of the new generation of talent and has established himself as England’s starting fly-half this autumn, providing consistent moments of attacking brilliance.

The 25-year-old won his first cap under former England head coach Jones in 2021 and marked his 39th appearance against Japan.

Jones, returning to Twickenham for the first time, was full of praise for how Smith has matured as a Test number 10.

“I look at Marcus today after bringing him in when he was young and now he is so competent in his decision-making,” Jones said.

“He makes the right decisions most of the time and is composed, and still has those moments of electricity.

“But that is what you get from [nearly] 40 Tests.”

Jones said he had “good fun” on his return to the home of English rugby until “some clown” abused him in the crowd, stating to BBC 5 Live that he will “not repeat” what was said.

The Japan head coach’s leadership style has been criticised in a book by former England scrum-half Danny Care, who claimed players were belittled and berated in a “toxic environment”.

The Australian addressed the comments, saying he will include his response in his own book, with a full chapter called “caring about Care”.

During the 64-year-old’s time as head coach of England, Borthwick worked under him as an assistant coach from 2015–2020.

Jones, like George, is confident that Borthwick’s side are heading in the right direction.

“You will always get that sticky period [in transition] where in the big games it doesn’t work and you get beaten by a point or two points,” he added.

“England are going in the right direction and in the way they want to play. They gave us a lesson in pressure rugby.

“They played really well against us and knowing Steve well that is how he wants to play [pressure rugby] and it is going to take some time.”

England are next in action against Ireland in Dublin on 1 February to kick off their 2025 Six Nations campaign.