Ugo Monye has slammed the idea that England have made ‘solid progress’ following the 2022 Six Nations, describing the claim as ‘dishonest’.
England secured a somewhat underwhelming third place finish in this year’s event, following a 25-13 defeat to eventual champions France. Post-match there were a number of calls for head coach Eddie Jones to resign or either be sacked by his employers on the back of a disappointing tournament.
However, Jones received the backing of his employers shortly after as a statement from the Rugby Football Union pledged their support behind the coach, describing England’s 2022 campaign as ‘solid progress’.
An RFU spokesperson said: “Eddie Jones is building a new England team and against a clear strategy we are encouraged by the solid progress the team has made during this Six Nations. The RFU continues to fully support Eddie, the coaching team and players and we are excited about the summer tour and the progress to rebuild a winning England team.”
The progress claim however has been criticised by former star Monye, who described the RFU’s statement as ‘dishonest’ when speaking on the BBC ’s Rugby Union Daily Podcast.
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He said: “I want to know who in the RFU thinks that signifies progress and are happy with how things are. Fundamentally it's just dishonest. There isn't progress."
The statement from the governing body was given by an ‘unnamed spokesperson’, however Monye, believes someone in power should have put their name to the statement. He also went on to describe the situation as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘appalling’.
The 38-year-old continued: “With the financial backing, the player pool and the coaching staff they have you cannot be winning two out of five games two years in a row. It's appalling, unimaginable, unacceptable."
England came a mammoth 11 points behind second place Ireland and 12 behind champions France. Despite two spirited performances against the top two, Monye believes the ‘spirit’ and ‘fight’ they showed should be a bare minimum.
"England talk about showing great spirit and fight against Ireland and France but you expect that as a baseline,” the 38-year-old commented. “They were miles behind where France were."
