Loss of Jones 'deeply disappointing' says Sweeney

NEWS: The resignation of Felix Jones as England defence coach after only seven months is “deeply disappointing”, said Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney.

The CEO, who gave his full backing to head coach Steve Borthwick following the resignation of both Jones and Aled Walters, didn’t pull his punches when delivering his verdict on England’s record since 2003, the year they won the World Cup and a Six Nations Grand Slam under Clive Woodward.

Following an encouraging March in the Six Nations with two good tour efforts in New Zealand, the Borthwick regime was rocked by the loss of strength and conditioning coach Walters to Andy Farrell’s Ireland.

This was soon followed by the resignation of defence coach Jones.

Sweeney was adamant that these coaching issues weren’t a repeat of the Eddie Jones era but instead, gave Borthwick his full backing despite the upheaval.

Sweeney said the RFU is looking to move on after Jones’ resignation “came out of the blue”.

“Felix is on a 12-month contract so from the moment he announced his resignation he is committed to us for 12 months,” Sweeney told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“We are in discussion about what we do in that transition period.

“It has been deeply disappointing and I won’t beat any bones about that. You saw with the performances in New Zealand and at the end of the Six Nations great momentum and good energy.

“You have a great squad of players now with a blend of experience and young players. The mood in the camp is great and it’s a fun environment to be in.

“It was totally unexpected but these things happen in sport and we will move on and make the necessary changes to rectify it,” the RFU head said.

“We are obviously very disappointed.

“You would have seen in New Zealand a lot of good momentum in terms of the way England have been playing with Steve as head coach. We have got a really nice blend of experience and young players coming in now.

“There is real excitement around that. The way we played at the backend of the Six Nations and then in New Zealand was really encouraging and then we have got the autumn coming up, so for that to happen was massively disappointing. It came out of the blue. Totally unexpected.

“What I can say, though, is Steve has absolute 100 percent support from us, from me personally and from the RFU, and I can also say categorically says he has 100 percent support from the players in that squad.

“He talked to the players in the squad. They are quite keen to deliver a message which is we have got a really enjoyable environment in that camp, we have got a nice blend of experience and youth, we have got fun, have activities going on.

“They seem to genuinely enjoy being in camp and they want to make sure they have got coaches coming in who are passionate about our journey and the vision we have got to buy into this new structure.

“To answer your question, disappointing. Things happen. We just need to focus now on moving on,” Sweeney confirmed.