The wizard from Oz who lost his magical touch

After a dream start, the side began to play joyless, stodgy rugby and Eddie Jones could not turn the chariot around

- Robert Kitson

Sometimes it is the small things that betray the real story. There we were last Saturday week, in the subterranean depths of Twickenham's vast West Stand, listening to Eddie Jones explaining away England's latest sub-par performance. To his right, as ever, was his faithful Australian lieutenant Neil Craig, hired specifically to help Jones to cope with such tricky situations. Even a weary-looking Craig, on this occasion, had his head in his hands.

The other giveaway was the remarkable online outburst last week by David Pembroke, Jones's long-time media guru, in the comments section on the Times Sport website. "Pemby" was alleging the Rugby Football Union itself had been briefing against Jones and publicly referred to the RFU's chief executive, Bill Sweeney, as "slippery". If there was a slim chance of Jones batting on into 2023 it probably vanished right there, despite Pembroke's subsequent apology.

The final fraught bunker days could hardly have been more of contrast to the golden era of 2016 and 2017 when Jones was still the wizard from Oz. Coaches don't win 18 successive Tests by accident. Even now, no one would dispute Jones is an excellent technician and knows his rugby inside out. Not for the first time in Jones's rollercoaster career, though, the subsequent downs were to prove as vertiginous as the ups were sky high.