Eddie Jones 'not bullet-proof', warns England rugby chief

England coach Eddie Jones is not "bullet-proof", his boss said Thursday, following a dismal Six Nations campaign.

Jones' position was again called into question after England's 25-13 defeat by Grand Slam champions France in Paris meant they had lost three out of five matches for the second successive tournament.

The 62-year-old has guided England to three Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam, as well as a 2019 World Cup final in Japan where they were beaten by South Africa, since his appointment seven years ago.

But his career record suggests Jones, the coach of his native Australia when England defeated the Wallabies in the 2003 World Cup final, is at his best in the early years of a job.

It would still be a major shock were Jones, the highest-paid coach in rugby, to be sacked before next year's World Cup in France given his contract expires after the tournament.

But Bill Sweeney, the chief executive of England's Rugby Football Union, warned: "No-one is bullet-proof. No-one is indispensable. I'm not indispensable.

"If we felt we weren't heading in the right direction, of course he (Jones) is not bullet-proof. He knows that himself."

Nevertheless, Sweeney pointing to the emergence of young talents such as fly-half Marcus Smith, said there were solid reasons for the RFU to back Jones, who took England from a fifth-place finish in the 2018 Six Nations to a World Cup final the following year.

"It's not just emotional or blind faith," he said after a 2022 Six Nations where five of England's meagre eight tries came during a 33-0 rout of perennial strugglers Italy.

"France are second in the world...They're a really good team.

"But do we think that we're going in the right direction to be able to close that gap? We do."

France's