England’s poor form is down to the RFU not producing enough quality players,” says Australia head coach Eddie Jones.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has faced criticism, but former boss Jones says the blame lies elsewhere.
“The results of England over the last five years… they’re not producing quality players,” Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“And so everyone looks at the head coach, and [says] ‘let’s blame the head coach’. But the onus on producing quality players is the RFU. And that hasn’t happened.
“You’ve got to look at why you’re not bringing talent through, then you’ve got to look at why your talent development systems are not doing that.
“The system’s not right. What needs to change? Where’s the gap? That’s the responsibility of the RFU.”
Former England number 10 Cipriani wasn’t impressed with those comments, taking to Twitter
“What an unbelievable cop out” he said. “Once again… As the head coach of England you set the standard to follow, not by winning, by being a leader people look up to or admire, being accountable and inspiring a nation through your vision.
Not by belittling employees, running through staff, having a limited understanding of the game and getting hired because the RFU don’t know what they are looking for hence why they employed Eddie. RFU have a huge role to play but Eddie passing the buck is not news…”
He then added: “Rugby needs to make a change in this country. Eddie ran it further into the ground from a shocking 2015 W/C exit. If getting to the World Cup final in 2019 or even winning it in 2003 was enough to expand the game then that’s what would have happened. RFU have a huge role to play, it’s not a serious business. Selling Twickenham out is not difficult. Only when they don’t will they think to look in the mirror…”
Replying to a comment suggesting that Jones should have made these comments whilst still in charge of the national side, Cipriani claimed: “Why do you think he didn’t? Because he was picking up a pay cheque… not saying there is no truth in it. He got employed by those people who don’t know how to identify talent because they fell for his chat…”
The 100 best rugby players in the world:
With less than a fortnight remaining until the commencement of the Rugby World Cup, the rugby specialists at Telegraph Sport have collaboratively assessed and ranked the top 100 players globally.
Presented below is the comprehensive list, starting from the 100th spot and culminating at the first position.
100. Pierre Schoeman (Scotland)
99. Tommaso Menoncello (Italy)
98. Franco Mostert (South Africa)
97. Paul Alo-Emile (Samoa)
96. Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland)
95 Juan Martín González (Argentina)
94. Jasper Wiese (South Africa)
93. Damian Willemse (South Africa)
92. Mark Telea (New Zealand)
91. Faf de Klerk (South Africa)
90. Handré Pollard (South Africa)
89. James Lowe (Ireland)
88. Jamie Ritchie (Scotland)
87. Paul Willemse (France)
86. Shannon Frizell (New Zealand)
85. Freddie Steward (England)
They wrote: “The best England player to emerge in this four-year cycle, without question. Steward has come a long way from having to ditch a shift in Costa to turn out for Leicester in the Premiership Rugby Cup, to becoming England’s specialist diffuser under the high ball at full-back while hoovering up a number of awards. The potential is enormous, and he should thrive at his first World Cup.”
84. Thibaud Flament (France)
83. Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)
82. Matthieu Jalibert (France)
81.. Jac Morgan (Wales)