Former England wing Ugo Monye has said the Rugby Football Union’s claim that they were encouraged by England’s progress during the Six Nations is “dishonest”.
On Sunday, the RFU said they were “encouraged by the solid progress”, England made despite winning only two games and suffering three defeats, and added that they back head coach Eddie Jones on approach to next year’s World Cup.
“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,” an RFU spokesperson said in a statement.
“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.”
However, Monye told the BBC’s rugby union podcast there isn’t progress: “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,” he said.
France beat England 25-13 on Saturday to secure the Grand Slam and their first Six Nations title since 2010.
After the game, Jones was asked by reporters about his future with England: “That is not a question I need to answer,” he said. “Just do my job — it’s a question for other people. I’m disappointed for the fans and for the players. I obviously haven’t done a good enough job, I accept that, but we’re moving in the right direction.
“The results aren’t good enough. When you rebuild a team it takes time. France are deserved champions of the Six Nations, they are the best team. But we had enough chances to win that game, we just didn’t put them away. We were not quite clinical enough.
“That has been a little bit of the story for us in the Six Nations. We have put ourselves in positions to win the three games we have lost but not been clinical enough, not been good enough, to win those games.”
He added: “That is disappointing, but the spirit we showed is going to make sure this team keeps moving in the right direction. This is a great benchmark game for us. We have got a lot of good young players coming through and some of the older guys are starting to play some really good rugby again, so we are going to have a good blend going through to the World Cup [in 2023].”
England are set to face the Barbarians at Twickenham on June 19 as a warm-up to their three-test tour of Australia the following month.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.