The Rugby Football Union chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has insisted Eddie Jones is not “bulletproof” and belatedly admitted England’s Six Nations performance was not acceptable. Jones has been backed to continue in the role for now but Sweeney insisted his position would be kept under constant review.
Sweeney went on to concede that the union was wrong not to acknowledge in its statement the day after England lost to France that another campaign with two wins and three defeats was disappointing and that supporters had a right to feel aggrieved.
Sweeney also revealed he has had a conversation with Jones, spelling out that another substandard campaign was “not acceptable”. He said: “No one is bulletproof. No one is indispensable. I’m not indispensable. Anyone can go at any particular time but that happens when there is a loss of confidence.
“People stay in their role because there is a belief that you are still heading in the right direction, even when, sometimes, the results might not back that up. You make a call, you make a judgment; are we heading in the right direction? Of course he’s not bulletproof. He knows that himself. We haven’t performed well in the last two Six Nations. To have a conversation with him saying ‘that’s not acceptable’ – of course that happens.”
On Sunday the RFU released a statement claiming that “solid progress” had been made despite a campaign with just eight tries scored and wins over only Italy and Wales. The statement acknowledged no disappointment nor did it include an apology to supporters but on Thursday Sweeney said: “The feelings were genuine, really disappointed, massively frustrated. Should we have said that more up front? Yes, probably, recognising fans’ disappointment as well, so I think that’s a fair comment.
“We weren’t lying. When we made that statement, we were being honest. ‘Solid progress’ – I can understand how that might confuse after two wins last year and two wins this year. But progress is not just about matches won. It’s also about hitting certain objectives along the way.
“Eddie has said it himself, that he hasn’t done a good job. He said that in one interview. If you go back we won three championships with him since he’s been here. You only remember the most recent performances and the ones that hurt at the moment are the last two years. But do we think that he is the coach that is capable of winning us the Six Nations next year? Absolutely correct.”
Sweeney insisted there was no cut-off point when it would be too close to the World Cup to ditch Jones but went on to explain why he was adamant he was still the right man for the job. “We review and evaluate things as we go along. It’s not a case of saying: ‘Let’s wait six months then review it and see how we’re going,’” he said. “We’ll continue to review all the way through, we will have those conservations and as long as we’re moving in the right direction, we’re happy.
“[Jones] felt that the spirit in the side needed to improve and we needed to break down some of the club relationships and forge one England identity. We’ve seen that come on leaps and bounds. Another big one is leadership on the field of play. The other one is decision-making – maturity and composure in critical moments. We think we’re not there yet. That’s one thing that didn’t go well. [But] he’s got the absolute belief and commitment of the players. Given all of that, we believe he’s the right guy to take us through. We’ll continue to review as we go through.”
