It’s now time for Eddie to put up or shut up

ENGLAND are in a deep hole of their own making and frankly, it’s Eddie Jones who has been — and is doing — the digging. As a former England player and head coach, it is not remotely enjoyable or easy to criticise.

I know only too well how painful defeat is, how desperate the team is to succeed and how unjust criticism can feel.

But criticise we must. This is now very serious, with nowhere near enough scrutiny from the RFU concerning an England team that has become a cosy club. England must acknowledge and halt the decline right now.

To hear Jones insist on Saturday night that England had improved since the opening-game defeat by Scotland was nonsensical.

This England team is going nowhere playing like this and any talk of progress is delusional.

All the signs of England’s decline were there throughout 2020, when Jones refused to reboot the tired England game plan and have a look at some of the alternative talent.

Jones is not handling the pressure well. In the autumn, when it was becoming a chore to watch England, he ranted about the media’s lack of ‘respect’ when they offered what I felt was constructive criticism. But because England were scraping wins in a competition that didn’t matter, he pointed to the ‘wins’ column — which the RFU suits were happy to accept without question.

I was astonished last week to read this utter nonsense about the media planting rat poison in the players minds! From what I’ve read and heard, the media comments have been objective and fair.

As a former Test player, former national coach and fan, I am invested emotionally in English rugby but I find some of the stuff Eddie says astonishing.

The comments about the media but also that twaddle about not developing an attacking game until near the World Cup, or how it is impossible to play attacking, ball-in-hand rugby under the new laws — to mention just a few. That kind of thinking is what I call careerist.

Building a world-beating team takes time, you’ll make mistakes and suffer losses. But high-performing teams play as though every game could be their last, from the coach down. They do not suggest that we will do it in two years’ time, or that the laws aren’t fair.

Eddie has nobody within the RFU standing up to him and asking what is going on. As RFU CEO, Bill Sweeney needs to take this on board but he is in no position to question Eddie on rugby matters.

The Lions could not come at a better time for Eddie and England. It will buy him some time but, come the autumn, the message will be clear. No more second chances. Put up or shut up.