England rugby chiefs refuse to back Eddie Jones as they bring forward brutal probe into Six Nations shambles

ENGLAND rugby chiefs refused to give Eddie Jones their public backing ahead of a brutal Six Nations probe.

RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has rushed forward a forensic review into the worst Championship finish in 45 years.

And he also refuted claims Red Rose boss Jones does what he wants at the RFU.

Asked if Jones could lose his job, Sweeney said: “I don’t think I could honestly answer that one.

“You have to recognise and respect Eddie’s achievements - three Six Nations, a Grand Slam, a World Cup final, that’s tremendous.

“We want to sit down and let him talk to us in terms of what happened.

“And if there are any further conversations required as a result of the findings in the panel, then we’ll do that as well.”

Sweeney planned to launch the probe in May but brought it forward and formed a panel of experts to grill Jones and report their findings back to him.

He said: “Eddie’s not in denial. He knows it is going to be a thorough and brutally honest debrief.

“We need to get to the facts of it and say, ‘Are we headed in the right direction?’

“We won’t leave any stone unturned.”

Sweeney denied claims the England boss ran a dictatorship at the RFU.

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He said: “I would say that is wrong. He doesn’t have power and influence within Twickenham.”

And he also revealed that he rapped Jones for his bizarre rant comparing outside criticism affecting his side to RAT POISON.

He added: “I didn’t like that. That doesn’t really help the cause and we have had a chat about it.”