Legendary England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward has slammed current incumbent Eddie Jones, following his side's failture to defend their Six Nations crown.
Following their 24-15 loss to Ireland at Twickenham - and with other results going against them - defending champions England could only muster a fifth placed finish in the Six Nations, having won the title in 2017.
Writing for the Mail on Sunday, Sir Clive (who coached England to Rugby World Cup success in 2003) pointed out that Jones' brash and abraisive style of coaching was now beginning to hinder England's performances at the highest level.
"England and Eddie Jones have got to do a lot of soul-searching and honest words need to be spoken. But it needs to be done in a calm atmosphere away from the limelight," Woodward wrote.
"Eddie has become too much the 'show' and there have been way too many distractions this season. You cannot operate long-term like that. It saps your energy and the team lose focus."
"What is needed most of all is for England to clarify how they want to play. Eddie needs to sit down and debrief everybody. He has to find out where they are mentally and why the majority of them are not producing the form they show for their clubs or did for England during that great run."
The disastrous campaign also saw England relinquish their hold of the world's number two ranking, with only Ireland now sitting second to the All Blacks.
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