It will be brutal, Eddie
EDDIE JONES has been warned that “no stone will be left unturned” in a “brutally honest” inquest into England’s Six Nations flop.
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney was in no mood to sugar-coat England’s fifth-place finish.
Asked what went wrong, he said: “Gosh, how long have you got?”
He revealed that a debrief scheduled for May would be brought forward to next month as “we are all incredibly disappointed”.
He added: “We will leave no stone unturned, address the issues that need to be fixed and if we have to make changes, we’ll make those changes.
“We have to react. You can’t just do nothing and we won’t do nothing. At the same time it’s important we don’t overreact.”
Sweeney insists head coach Jones wants answers as much as anyone for the reasons behind England’s worst-ever Six Nations.
“It’s important to stress that Eddie’s not in denial,” he said. “He’s not quoting his win ratios, or previous tournaments or his record up to now. Not at all. He knows it’s going to be a thorough and brutally honest debrief.
“We need to get to the facts of it. We need to lift the hood up, have a look in and say, ‘Are we headed in the right direction?’”
■ THE British and Irish Lions tour could yet be scrapped this summer, despite ‘confirmation’ last night that it will go ahead as scheduled in South Africa.
Lions board member Sweeney said they were seeking urgent clarity from the hosts that they can fulfil their obligations.