Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney gave strong backing to England’s under-fire coach Eddie Jones on Thursday despite another disappointing showing from his side in the Six Nations.
England’s 25-13 defeat by Grand Slam champions France in Paris on Saturday meant that they had won just two out of five matches for the second successive Six Nations.
Despite the disappointing campaign, the RFU released a statement on Sunday saying it was “encouraged by the solid progress” England had made during the tournament, offering their “full support” to Jones.
That drew a furious response from former England coach Clive Woodward, who led the team to World Cup glory in 2003. Woodward, writing for the Daily Mail, said the RFU’s “ham-fisted attempts to draw a line under this season have only ignited people’s fury”.
Sweeney admitted the RFU had failed to acknowledge the public mood following England’s latest defeat, but insisted rugby chiefs remained completely behind Jones.
“He’s got the absolute belief and commitment of the players,” the chief executive said at a Twickenham media conference. “Given all of that, we believe he’s the right guy to take us through [to the 2023 World Cup].”
Sweeney said the RFU was being honest in its assessment that England are heading in the right direction under Jones, whose contract runs out after the World Cup in France.
“Progress is not just about matches won,” he said. “It’s also about hitting certain objectives along the way and that’s what we were talking about. We were talking about improvements to the structure, to the squad and to how we’re playing. That was the rationale behind that statement.”
The Australian has won three Six Nations titles with England in his seven years in charge, including the Grand Slam in 2016, and took his side to the 2019 World Cup final. But Sweeney said they were now in a “difficult” rebuilding phase.
“This very formidable team in France has been three years in development,” he said. “Eddie was saying at the end of 2019 that this [England] squad would have to change significantly. He’s been very clear and upfront about things that would need to happen.”
Sweeney pointed to the emergence at Test level of players such as flyhalf Marcus Smith as proof of positive development, arguing they had improved team spirit and all-round leadership qualities, and he played down suggestions that Jones operates without consulting Twickenham colleagues.
“I think there is a bit of a perception that Eddie functions in a bubble, that there is no interaction. We get the meeting notes after every coaches’ meeting,” he said.
© Agence France-Presse
