1.England now reward good training rather than highlight failure

2.May: ‘There has been an edge in camp since losing to Scotland’

England have reacted to the unfamiliar taste of defeat by changing their routine in training to reward outstanding performances rather than highlight failure in the lead-up to the match against France in Paris on Saturday.

Jonny May revealed that England’s analysts have changed the way they measure the performances of players in training, focusing on individuals, while the pink shirt reserved for the player who was slowest to get off the ground in a session has been replaced by a gold one for the players who are quickest and so the most involved.

“The GPS analysts have now produced an algorithm so that you can see what your best session is,” May said when the England wing was asked why the centre Ben Te’o was wearing red socks in training. “He had his best so he got the socks. It is the first time it has been done and I hope we do not have to re-use them. The shirts are a work-related thing, something you cannot measure with GPS, all about how quickly you get off the ground and back into the game.”

England’s defeat at Murrayfield in the previous round of the Six Nations was only their second in 26 Tests under the head coach, Eddie Jones. “It was pretty dark,” May said. “We were all hard on ourselves and we want to go out against France, show what it means and produce our best game.

“The backlash to Scotland was new territory for us and we are trying to use it as a positive. I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel or go back to the drawing board because we’re a great team.

“There has been a bit of an edge in camp. It’s the first time that we’ve had a loss and stayed together. Last time after the Ireland defeat [at the end of the 2017 Six Nations] we all went away. It’s an opportunity for us to bounce back and turn a difficult day into a positive experience.”

Jones names his team day having said that no one is indispensable. His captain, Dylan Hartley, has had a tight calf muscle all week, but if he has played a reduced role in training he has been a central figure in ensuring that morale is high for a visit to a ground where England have won on two of their past three visits in the championship.

“Dylan leads training well,” May said. “He always says: ‘Listen, we don’t want the coaches blowing their whistles telling us to up it; we want the coaches blowing their whistles telling us to rein it in.’ That’s how it has been this last couple of weeks. There have not been any dust-ups, but it has been physical, as it needed to be.

“Our breakdown wasn’t good enough against Scotland so we’ve had some extra practice and worked hard in that area. There are always themes to each week and the breakdown is something we’ve had to have a look at.

“It’s a shame we didn’t have a game last week because we all wanted to get back out on the pitch. Sometimes it’s disappointing that you need to have a loss to have a reaction. It’s not that we were complacent or anything but sometimes you do get beaten and it brings an edge and a desire to put it right.”

England may need to not only win at the Stade de France but do so with a bonus point if Ireland score at least four tries in victory against Scotland earlier in the day.

“We have not spoken about that,” May said. “What was disappointing about Scotland was that we knew they were going to throw the house at us and that if they got their tails up they would get even better.

“We knew they were coming but could not stop them. A good start is important away to take the sting out of the home side and stop the crowd from roaring.”