Ugo Monye feels Eddie Jones ’ time as England boss has ‘run its course’ - comparing where he is to Jose Mourinho ’s last days at Chelsea.
The former England star said a dismal autumn for his old team, culminating in them being booed off Twickenham at the weekend, meant Jones’ bosses face a watershed moment.
“The moment you start losing the faith in the fans it becomes very difficult,” Monye told the BBC ’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast. “That’s the spot we’re in right now. England need to figure out whether they stick or twist.
“They’ve regressed since 2019. We haven’t beaten anybody in the top five in the world in the last 12 months, in the top 10 the only teams we’ve beaten are Australia, Wales and Japan.
“I don’t think anyone is saying Eddie is a bad coach, he’s got an incredible proven track record. But I look at football and the likes of Jose Mourinho. He’s still a great coach but that relationship ran its course at Chelsea as well as other clubs.
"I look at Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. He did so many incredible things, he was behind the Invincibles, but he was there too long and he had to go.
"There are so many examples of world-class, incredibly well experienced coaches who either stay too long or for some reason there is a disconnect between them, the players or them and the fans.”
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The RFU has given itself a fortnight to reach a verdict on an autumn which brought a solitary win over Japan and decide whether Jones remains the right man to take England to the World Cup. England have failed to win seven of their 12 Tests in 2022, their worst calendar year of results since 2008.
“I would like to see the RFU be bold,” added Monye. “They have fiercely backed this person, it’s been a tempestuous seven years. I feel that to a certain extent that this relationship has maybe run its course at this point, I really do.”
He added that Lions boss Warren Gatland could yet find himself in a position to choose between England and a short-term return to the Wales job.
“He’s there going ‘I tell you what, do I want to be coach of Wales or England for the next five years? No. But I reckon I could give it a real good crack for 10 months’,” speculated the pundit. “He knows how to get a team gelled and co-ordinated in no time because he’s done it for the last three Lions’ series.”
If Jones does survive Monye says his priority must be to repair the broken relationship with England’s supporters.
“I think the fans don’t see it any more, I don’t think they’re buying into it at the moment,” he said. “The number one thing Eddie has to fix is that relationship.”
