England coach Eddie Jones on hot seat after Six Nations shambles | 1 NEWS

Sir Clive Woodward has also insisted that his old Australian coaching foe Jones should face a vigorous Rugby Football Union inquest after the championship performances had exposed “something very wrong” with England.

Jones has received support from his team after their dismal season-ending defeat by Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, with Maro Itoje saying that the players should take the blame, not their “truly special coach”.

Yet the 61-year-old Jones, whose side’s fortunes have plummeted since they reached the World Cup final in Japan in November 2019, finds himself undergoing the harshest criticism he’s faced since taking the England job.

Their descent from European champions to a fifth-place finish was confirmed by the 32-18 collapse against Ireland.

Dallaglio, a former red rose captain and 2003 World Cup winner, believes Jones must act decisively to engineer an exit from the current slump.

“Eddie is in his sixth year with England. He has done some very, very good things,” Dallaglio told BT Sport.

“England have won three of the last six Six Nations campaigns. They got to a World Cup final (in 2019) and were well beaten in that.

“Finishing fifth, losing to Wales, Scotland and Ireland is unacceptable for England. Things have to change.

“If Eddie Jones isn’t going to change, if he’s not going to be removed as head coach, then he needs to bring in some fresh faces on both the playing side and the coaching side.

“You can argue the team needs freshening up in terms of selection. England have gone backwards over the last six months and he needs to address that, he’s the head coach.”

Woodward, the 2003 World Cup-winning coach, said in his column in the Mail on Sunday: “It’s time for Eddie Jones to look in the mirror, not the window.

“Somebody at the RFU – although I’m not sure who is qualified to do so – needs to ask some sharp questions of him. There is no respected rugby ‘brain’ asking the difficult questions.

“I would like to say I was surprised but deep down I’m not. I had hoped last week was a fresh start but there is something very wrong at present.

“The graph has been going steadily downwards since that World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand with just an occasional blip or pulse of hope.”

But star lock Maro Itoje insists that England’s players, not Jones, have to be held responsible for their dismal Six Nations performance.

“Eddie is a fantastic coach. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve worked with. His work rate, his knowledge, his feeling with the players, the way he goes about his business are genuinely second to none,” Itoje said.

“As players, we need to be accountable for our behaviours. At the end of the day, Eddie can’t play the game for us.

“The players need to be accountable and if you ask any player who has been under Eddie, I doubt anyone will say differently. He’s a truly special coach.

“As players we need to grab hold of it and take ownership of our actions. We’re disappointed because we know that as a team we’re capable of so much more.

“It’s just on us. I don’t have any excuses here, we just weren’t good enough. We’re a team that can do so much more, but we didn’t show that.

“In terms of what I believe this team can do and what this team can achieve, nothing has changed. I truly believe that we’ve got something here.

“We’re not displaying the best of the team at the moment, but I genuinely believe we’ve got one of the best coaches in the world.”