Former England fly-half Toby Flood has questioned Red Rose boss Eddie Jones and his training methods for this season’s Six Nations, insisting the Aussie was the architect of his side’s capitulation.

After beating Italy and Wales in their opening two fixtures, England slipped up against Scotland, France and Ireland to finish fifth in the competition – their worst performance since 1987.

While Ireland’s Grand Slam winning squad were wrapped in cotton wool after playing for the British & Irish Lions in the summer, England’s contingent was thrown straight into Aviva Premiership action.

The likes of Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes looked a shadow of the players who had performed heroics for England over the last two seasons – and Flood insists the blame lies squarely at Jones’ door. 

Flood last played for England in 2014 under Stuart Lancaster and amassed 60 caps during a glittering international career – and the Newcastle Falcon has called on Twickenham bosses to step in quickly to avoid a second World Cup humiliation in succession. 

“For me the way England train, doesn’t help,” said Flood, who was speaking on behalf of Land Rover, the Official Vehicle Partner of Premiership Rugby. This year, Land Rover is celebrating its Testimonial Season; ten seasons of supporting grassroots rugby in the UK through the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup.

“They always talk about how hard they train, high intensity, high impact and there’s a benefit to that, which we saw for 22 games in a row.

“But when you are that tired at the back end of a tournament and you must manage your load, manage your players, you can’t keep battering them and I know they train at that intensity and that it’ll have an impact.

“Because if you play a test match on a Saturday, test match intensity on a Tuesday or Wednesday trying to recover, it’s hard and players aren’t robots. Players when they start second guessing what they’re doing lose their confidence - are we doing something wrong, is it not quite right, why can’t we bully this team?

“And England had done this.They had bullied teams, sat on them and done well. And in the Scotland game, that was the first game I saw them where they really had to chase, a score or two down and they really struggled to do that. They struggled to unload and I thought it was massive they didn’t get a bonus point because of it. Little did we know they’d lose to France then Ireland too. But if your gameplay is about bullying teams and you can’t, you need to be smart and play quicker which they can do.

“But I just don’t think that it’s as bad as it looks. It’s just the way it fell apart very quickly that’ll cause concern for the coaches.

"But if you list names, these are the names where eight weeks ago, they’re good players. Then you start second guessing when they’re not playing so well.

“Time’s a factor - how hard you train is, but when you’re missing key personnel too and you can’t sit and bully teams, that’s the major factor - that’s the reason they’ve lost games. What would interest me more though is the mental situation, why has that confidence evaporated so quickly.

“Now, is it confidence or are they just not playing well? That’s the big question.”

Flood also questioned the tug of war between England and Premiership clubs – stating it is unfair to think domestic bosses will rest their star assets in the coming weeks.

Sir Clive Woodward has called on some of England stars names – Mako Vunipola, Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje – to be rested for this summer’s tour of South Africa.

But Flood thinks the problem is bigger than just shoehorning in some much-needed rest weeks.

Flood added, who alongside fellow Falcons were leading a coaching session on behalf of Land Rover at Northern RFC, the grassroots club that has won ten Land Rover Premiership Cups since its inauguration in 2008: “It’s just this continual question mark hanging over England, isn’t it? ‘That’s my player - I’m paying his wages.’

“Okay. But during that time, we’ll give you a big chunk of money and control what he does. Because we need Owen Farrell, Dan Cole to play in this game.

“Newcastle at home in three weeks, maybe we lose a scrum ball, and Dan’s not playing.

“So, there is no rest period for these players. When people talk about extending a season, it’s dangerous and wrong unless you manage huge chunks of a season, but then you can’t.You can’t control club’s playing their players, because they pay a huge portion of their wages.

“England find themselves not having the situation Ireland do when they can completely manage their players.

“New Zealand too. But a tired and an unhappy player is no use so it’s about finding the balance.”

Land Rover is the Official Vehicle Partner of Premiership Rugby. Land Rover is celebrating its Testimonial Season of supporting grassroots rugby in the UK through the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup. Follow @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal