RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has admitted the organisation got the tone wrong in Sunday’s statement backing England head coach Eddie Jones.
In the wake of a disappointing Six Nations campaign that saw England win only two of their five games for the second year in a row, the RFU reaffirmed their full support for Jones.
They said in a statement on Sunday afternoon that England had made “good progress” and “strong positive steps” during the campaign.
That provoked a fierce backlash from fans and prominent rugby figures, including World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio, and Sweeney has now admitted the tone was wrong.
“The feelings were genuine, really disappointed, massively frustrated,” said Sweeney. “Should we have said that more up front on Sunday? Yes, probably, recognising fans’ disappointment as well so I think that’s a fair comment.
“We weren’t lying. When we made that statement, we were being honest. ‘Solid progress’ – I can understand how that might confuse after two wins last year and two wins this year.
“But progress is not just about matches won. It’s also about hitting certain objectives along the way and that’s what we were talking about.
“We were talking about improvements to the structure, to the squad and to how we’re playing. That was the rationale behind that statement.”
Sweeney, who addressed the media at Twickenham on Thursday afternoon, continued his backing for Jones and insisted he is the right man for the job.
“It’s not easy coming fifth in a Six Nations,” he said. “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. You’re continually looking forward. You can’t look in the rear-view mirror and you’re always making judgments. 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’.”
