SOME HARD QUESTIONS ASKED OF JONES AFTER FLOP
RFU chief insists that boss not untouchable
EDDIE JONES’ boss has promised the review into England’s Six Nations flop will be transparent and findings won’t be swept under the carpet. Bill Sweeney is aware of the perception that Jones is a law unto himself – but rejects it.
He insists that whatever comes of the post-mortem into England’s worst championship for 45 years, the Australian will be called to account.
Sweeney (below) said: “At this level of sport, performance is everything. Momentum can shift in a moment.
“You can go from one week to the next and you can start to have concerns along the lines of, ‘is this a problem? Is this fixable? Is this something that we are in control of?’.
“If we had concerns and worries going through the summer, then we would act on it one way or the other.”
Sweeney knows what consistency looks like having worked closely with the All Blacks for eight years during his time with Adidas.
He does not need telling that two fifth-placed finishes for England in three years, following back-to-back titles, fits in the boom-and-bust category.
He said: “We have very high aspirations and if you come out the wrong end you have got to be able to decide if that is bad luck or if there is a reason for coming up
short.there is no reason for us to sweep things under the carpet, no reason why we wouldn’t have a thorough and honest debrief.
“We want to get to the nub of it to make sure that we can be as successful as possible.”
One of the key areas of investigation will be Jones’ decision to retain the Saracens’ spine of his England team following the club’s relegation and absence of matches.
Owen Farrell, Billy and Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Maro Itoje and Elliot Daly were all way below their best during the Six Nations.
“You’re right to point out the form of the Saracens players,” Sweeney accepted.
“That is something that we need to dig into in the debrief.
“Clearly that will be one of the topics and what the implications are going forward.”