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Former coach Eddie Jones has pointed the finger at the Rugby Football Union for England’s current crisis.
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England’s troubled World Cup preparations hit a new low when they lost to Fiji last weekend, which was the fifth defeat in their last six matches.
They have subsequently slipped to their lowest ranking in 20 years and expectations of a promising campaign in France over the next two months are low.
It is a rapid decline from the last World Cup in 2019, where Jones took them to the final. And he believes while current coach Steve Borthwick is coming under pressure, the governing body is responsible for failing to produce the next generation of talent.
“It’s a difficult situation, like you’ve got an ageing team,” Jones, who left his position with the RFU in 2022 and will lead his home country Australia into the tournament, told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
“Anyone who knows anything about sport can see that and then you’ve got new players coming in. Some of them have come through and done really well, like a Freddy Stewart, others are still finding their feet, like a Marcus Smith.
“You look at the results of England over the last five years but they’re not producing quality players.
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“And so everyone looks at the head coach and let’s blame the head coach. But the onus on producing quality players is the RFU and that hasn’t happened.
“You’ve got to look at why you’re not bringing talent through, then you’ve got to look at why your talent development systems are not doing that.
“(It’s) because the system’s not right. What needs to change? Where’s the gap? And that’s the responsibility of the RFU and it’s not for me to give them answers.”
If England make it through to the quarter-final, Jones’ Australia could be the opponents.
But the 63-year-old does not fear a reunion.
“I’m only worried about them if we play them in the quarter-final mode,” he said. “They’re a team that I coached for seven years, so I look back at them with affection. I like the players. I’d like to see them do well, but obviously not do well against us.
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“I wouldn’t feel any affection for England at that time. I can tell you.”
Asked if he was sad about his departure nine months ago, he replied: “No, not at all. I’ve had a fantastic run. Seven years for an Australian coaching England.
“It’ll never be done again. Maybe there’ll never be a non-English man coaching England again.
“And at the end of the day there’s nothing to argue about, nothing to be disappointed about. Move on, get on with your next job and you look back at your previous team with affection, which I still do with England.”
On one hand he's correct in that the RFU has a huge responsibility. I think anyone can see that the leadership is inept, however there should have been enough talent owing to the sheer numbers coming through for EJ to maintain a competitive squad. I have sympathy for both him and SB having the crazy agreement to have a pretty much fixed EPS squad. That squad would be selected before the season had even started, so wouldn't be judged on form - not sure who's responsibility that was. I think he also needs to look in the mirror and maybe give himself an uppercut 😁
Eddie is usually quite thoughtful, but this is a bit of a head scratcher.
So England is below Scotland and Fiji on the world rankings because those countries have deeper talent pools? Or more sophisticated player development systems? Nobody would buy that. So what is Eddie saying?
For me it's quite pointed. There is someone in the RFU with exactly the role that Eddie is pointing at. In the role description it says that he has the aim "to support long-term sustainable success at international level, he manages the England player, coaching and match officials pathways across men’s and women’s 15s and Sevens programmes".
Is that what you are saying, Eddie? That Conor O'Shea is accountable for "long-term sustainable success" and has failed to deliver?