England remain convinced they can still challenge for the Six Nations title despite a calamitous defeat by Scotland.

Eddie Jones and his squad flew home on Sunday from Edinburgh, trying to come to terms with how they squandered a seven-point lead to lose at Murrayfield — a collapse that has prompted fierce criticism.

Writing for Sportsmail, World Cup-winning England coach Sir Clive Woodward says: ‘Let’s be quite clear, the referee is not the reason England lost this game. That was due to a number of poor decisions, from Eddie Jones downwards.’

Woodward was scathing about the decision to replace Marcus Smith when England led 17-10. But within the England squad, there is a mood of defiance about reigniting their championship tilt against Italy on Sunday.

‘It’s disappointing to lose the first game but we have come back from situations like this and won a tournament,’ said hooker Jamie George. ‘We are fully aware that the Six Nations is all about momentum. Our main focus has to be going to Italy and getting five points. We need to win the rest of our games. That’s going to be the main focus.

‘Losing the first game is all people will be speaking about, but I thought there was a lot of good in the game as well. It’s certainly not the end of the world. We are not saying it was all OK and we are gutted to lose, but we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get ourselves right for Italy.’

Asked if a game against the Italians was the ideal scenario after a defeat, George added: ‘I don’t think it matters who we have next. Whoever is in front of us, I would rather be in our camp.’

Scrum-half Ben Youngs added: ‘In 2020, we lost to France quite convincingly and went on to win the title. If you look at the fixtures and who has to go where, the next match is really important.

‘We’re building this team and it is only going to grow from an experience like this. I’ve been in this team for a long time, but for a lot of guys it’s their first ever experience of a Six Nations — their first time at Murrayfield. A lot of guys really held their own.’

Jones revealed second row Courtney Lawes has an ‘outside chance’ of being available for the game in Rome.