Eddie Jones could restore England’s dynamism

Despite the fact that the Sunday journalists faced a deadline 30 minutes after the finish of England’s pool defining game against Australia on Saturday night, there was very little sign of anxiety within the Twickenham press box. The obituaries on England’s campaign had already been written during the week. All that was required was to press the send button.

Since then, the post-mortems have come thick and fast. This World Cup has proved a chastening experience for English rugby with the repercussions extending as far as the London stock exchange.

To become the first ever host to depart the tournament at the pool stage is particularly harsh as the organisers need to make sure it never happens again that four of the top 10 teams in the world are coupled in the same pool, as happened this time out.