Video: England demand success from Eddie
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: England coach Eddie Jones must produce success during the challenging November Test series which includes fixtures against All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies.
England lost five consecutive tests as they slumped to a fifth-place finish in the Six Nations before losing the June test series against South Africa in the first two matches. A win in the dead rubber third test relieved some of the pressure on Jones.
RFU Chief Executive Steve Brown revealed that the results may not be satisfying but completed their review and concluded that Jones is safe for now.
“I’ve reflected over the time Eddie has been at his post and his win rate. The win rate is still very high [80 percent] – it’s significant and it’s hard to argue against it,” Brown said.
“It’s important that we don’t just make a judgment on what’s happened in the very short term. Nevertheless, it was a pretty poor run of results.
“We showed great character for the result in Cape Town but the series result was disappointing. So was the Six Nations. Coming fifth in the Six Nations was a pretty difficult situation,”
With just a few months to go before the Rugby World Cup in 2019 in Japan, England, who secured two successive Six Nations title, were regarded as the one side who can challenge All Blacks’ supremacy at the prestigious event.
But, a fifth-place finish in this year’s Six Nations has stripped the side from that status and have left England supporters with doubts in Eddie Jones’ ability to coached the side at next year’s World Cup.
Nonetheless, Brown revealed that he is confident that those disappointing results are things of the past which will not be repeated.
“We plan to win every game we play,” Brown said, adding: “We expect success in November. I don’t want to predict failure, I’d rather predict success, but that’s not in blind faith. They’re all big matches. We’re planning to come out of the other side successful.
“I’ve discussed the autumn and the World Cup and how to get back to that win rate with Eddie and I’m confident those disappointing results are behind us and can be turned around,”
A training squad will be announced later this week that will meet at the start of August ahead of the new season.
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