Horrible history England’s gruesome World Cup
“People are perfectly entitled on the board to say, ‘You didn’t get this right, you didn’t get that right. Thank you very much and goodbye’,” he says.
Instead, the former chief executive of the All England Club was tasked with finding the man to put things right, someone even he was not expecting to succeed so spectacularly.
But after spending months working with the magnetic Jones, Ritchie is clear what is behind the turnaround – something clearly lacking during the Lancaster regime.
“Having somebody with serious international experience and serious experience of these big competitions – because of the pressures, strains, all of that – is really important,” Ritchie says.
“I think it’s all about clarity and focus. Eddie is very clear about what he wants people to do and to achieve things, very focused about what the objectives are and, therefore, brought all the team together.
“If you add to all of that, I think, that Exactly a year ago today, England got their World cup campaign off to a flyer, beating Fifi 35-11 and picking up a bonus point. That was to be as good as it got.
The draw was the problem. With Wales and Australia in the same pool, one major side was destined not to make the knockout stages. And it was Wales who were up next. England led 22-12 with half an hour gone. But the nerves set in and Wales pounced, winning 28-25 after Chris Robshaw chose to kick for the corner rather than goal and the line-out was stopped.
Australia then routed England 33-13, and Stuart Lancaster’s men were out of their own World Cup before the quarter-finals.