England: Bill Sweeney ‘massively frustrated’ but still supports Eddie Jones after Six Nations
Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney has revealed he is “disappointed” and “massively frustrated” with England’s Six Nations performance.
After a dismal two wins out of five record in the Championship, there was an initial quote from the RFU saying it was “encouraged” by the progress.
That led to uproar from many fans and former players, with England and Harlequins legend Ugo Monye and Wales great Sam Warburton stunned.
Eddie Jones still backed as coach
However, Sweeney has now spoken in more detail about his views on the Six Nations campaign and still thinks that Eddie Jones is the right man to lead.
“The feelings were genuine. Really disappointed, massively frustrated. Should we have said that more up front on Saturday? Yes, probably, recognising fans’ disappointment as well,” he said.
“We are all, as an organisation and to a person, incredibly disappointed with what happened this year in the Six Nations.
“You’d expect more from England and we demand more in terms of our results and our performances. Our emotions have been running very high. It still feels quite raw.
“Winning two this year compared to winning two last year is not progress and that’s a fair criticism.
“But in terms of how we feel the team is progressing and how it’s developing, in the context of where we want to get to, we feel we’re heading in the right direction, hence we were OK with that statement.”
As is customary after every major tournament, Jones will now face a review of the team’s performance as the World Cup in France begins to loom large.
“We speak with Eddie on a very frequent basis and he updates us in terms of our thinking and where he thinks we’re falling short,” Sweeney continued.
“He’s got the absolute belief and commitment of the players and we believe he’s the right guy to take us through. We’ll continue to review as we go through.
“It’s not easy coming fifth in a Six Nations. It’s not easy coming third, but it’s worse coming fifth. Forget the rankings for a second – you just don’t want to lose.
“Do we have the right set-up? Do we have the right organisation? Are we going to progress or are we deluding ourselves?
“Whenever we’ve had that conversation, we’ve come out on the side of ‘no, we think we’re going in the right direction as we’re transitioning and rebuilding this team’.”
