Will Greenwood My six-point blueprint for England’s future

Hcoach deserves another chance, needs to keep basis of team but he must change their attitude and leader

Eddie Jones

I may be among a minority here, but I have always believed in giving the bloke who dug you out of a hole the opportunity to have another crack.

Sir Clive Woodward was offered that opportunity in 1999 after a quarter-final World Cup exit. When New Zealand finally decided to give a coach more than one go at a World Cup they won one after 24 years – Sir Graham Henry would not have survived his quarter-final exit in 2007 just four years before.

Jones has to look in the mirror and make some changes but I have seen him close up and, at his best, he is absolutely world class. His energy, attention to detail, passion, work ethic and willingness to learn are all top notch. Before you change your people, you should try to make your people change.

Teamship

We talk about leadership all the time. To lead is a verb; to team is not – but it should be. To demonstrate teamship is to show complete loyalty and put your trust in all those around you. To selflessly give of yourself to your team-mates as and when is required.

It is tough to find a group that have demonstrated and articulated this as strongly as this England side. These boys would do anything for each other. They do not always win, that has been painfully obvious, but they do not let each other down. They have each other’s backs. They circle the wagons, and if you cross one of them, you cross all of them.

This is also one of the hardest-working England squads ever. Their scramble defence, their desire to wear the jersey and pass it on better than they received it is palpable. You simply cannot accuse these lads of lacking work ethic or desire. The stories of training that seep out of camp, and the sessions I have been fortunate enough to witness, are genuinely inspiring. We need to keep all that good stuff.

Forward spine

I was lucky enough to have been part of a team who had some of the greatest English forwards ever. The likes of Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio dominated the international game for a decade. They were not young guns, more stubborn and cussed old masters – they could pick a fight in a monastery. But they were yeomen of England, and in the likes of Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, I believe we have some forwards who can dominate the international game for years to come.

You cannot win a World Cup unless you have four or five players who are the very best in the world in their position. We have players who can be and they need to be the spine upon which we build this team.

CHANGE The captain

You cannot keep the coach and the captain. I love Owen Farrell but he needs to hand over the captaincy. He is not the first player to lose some form once given captaincy responsibility and I would like to see him focusing on being the best fly-half in England.

I would pick him at

10 and only 10. This summer’s selection for the Lions is likely to be very close for Owen. I see it as a straight shoot-out for the second fly-half slot between him and Dan Biggar.

Farrell needs to prove his fitness and his quality again come November. In Itoje and Curry, we have two players who could definitely step up and lead this side. They are both fierce competitors with a rugby intelligence that belies their years.

Itoje led England to an under-20 World Cup and is the obvious pick. The wild

Tough decision: England coach Eddie Jones may be forced to change his captain after Owen Farrell’s drop in form card would be Curry. As I watched the post-match interviews in Dublin, I was struck by how well he handled himself in the toughest of circumstances. I thought for the very first time, maybe he is the one to lead us when battle resumes.

Their discipline

England received some woeful decisions this tournament, but their discipline was just as bad. Offsides. Early engagement. No gaps in the line-out when the referee asked you three times – and they were just in Dublin.

This group of players have completely failed in their duty to work with a referee. You might as well play with one arm tied behind your back. Again, these are issues of leadership. You cannot hide behind the tough-luck story every game. England have failed to change. Culture is not what you preach, it is what you tolerate and England need to get tough with the biggest culprits.

Their selection policy

I know Eddie Jones watches a lot of games. So do many of us. But he is just not picking on form. Stability is one of the key traits of success but when it spills over into obstinacy and blind loyalty, it can be a downfall for coaches. With a domestic competition like ours, form has to be the key component for selection. Jones has picked players who have not played, or stuck with players who have looked like ghosts of their former selves.

I do not want him to throw 15 kids into battle. But I do want to see what some of the Premiership’s finest performers can do on the bigger stage. The greatest crime perhaps has been to take a young player like Paolo Odogwu away from game time, and growth, and improvement at Wasps and not let him see any leather under pressure. Shaking hands with players who have taken you so far but cannot take you over the next horizon is the hardest thing to do in management. But regeneration is part of growth. Jones did it with Dylan Hartley but rarely since. He has to start saying thank you and goodbye to a few of his players this summer. We want to see an England team in which players are fighting for their places.