England Six Nations performance 'incredibly disappointing', says RFU chief executive

Chief Executive Bill Sweeney says the RFU was disheartened by England's Six Nations run, but stresses the team is making progress.

England's Six Nations performance has been labelled "incredibly disappointing" by Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney.

Eddie Jones' side backed up a poor 2021 championship campaign with just two wins from five again, as their third-place finish lagged far behind France and Ireland.

A year-and-a-half out from the 2023 World Cup across the channel, England look unlikely to contend for the crown as they did in Japan in 2019.

"We are all, as an organisation, incredibly disappointed with what happened this year in the Six Nations," Sweeney told the media. "You'd expect more.

"To come away with fifth-place last year and two wins, and then going into this year's Six Nations feeling in good shape and expecting more, to only have a further two wins out of 2022 and come third was incredibly disappointing for us.

"We demand more in terms of our results and performances. Emotions have been running very high, it still feels quite raw. There is a great deal of frustration and disappointment."

Sweeney paid tribute to England supporters for their contributions, while stressing the team has still made progress under Jones in the last year.

"We saw a fantastic response from the fans during the Ireland game, one of the best examples of connecting with the team," he added.

"We understand why they're expecting more and feel not in a great place at the moment.

"We do feel there's been some real positive developments. We do feel we're on a path to the right direction. If you look at where we were 12 months ago: we're in a better place.

"It's a very tight-knit squad. There is a strong spirit. The players believe in [Jones] and believe he's taking them in the right direction.

"We're very excited by developments despite the fact we're coming out of a very difficult period. We know we're going to get better."