England were hot favourites to retain their Six Nations crown and make it three consecutive titles but they ended up down in fifth place after a woeful campaign.
Following a bright start with victory over Italy and Wales, the Red Rose then wilted and lost three consecutive Six Nations games for the first time since 2006 and it looks as though it is back to the drawing board.
Having lost only one match since replacing Stuart Lancaster, coach Eddie Jones could seemingly do no wrong but there is a sense that England have regressed to the awful days of the 2015 World Cup when they failed to even make it out of the group stage.
The knives have been out for the Australian but he will be given a chance to put things right after being backed by the RFU.
The blame ultimately lies with the coach and, after England’s ponderous campaign, it has to be asked if the coaching set up is right.
Many pundits believe that they should appoint an attack coach and it certainly makes sense as they were devoid of ideas behind the scrum and seven of their 14 tries came against the Azzurri.
Not enough young players were blooded during the campaign, with the old guard found wanting, and surely there will be several new faces when England tour South Africa this summer.
With the Word Cup looming large on the horizon next year, there is not too much time to bed in new players and replace a team strategy that now seems out of date.
England’s lack of mobility at the breakdown has been well documented and there is no question that the rest of the sides have overtaken them in that regard.
What Jones would have done for a Neil Back or Peter Winterbottom type player to emerge on the open side over the past couple of months.
He is a coach who has massive self-belief but it is hard to defend a side that looked so wooden and clueless at times, and there will be a lot of soul searching in the coming weeks as he tries to plot a route back to the top.
It may be that a few of the established stars are rested for the South Africa trip to recharge their batteries and that will certainly give the coach a chance to try out different combinations both in the pack and in the three-quarters.
Eyebrows were raised when Owen Farrell was handed the number 10 shirt to face Ireland and Jones must sort out his back line, with scope to sprinkle some stardust on the backs by moving Elliot Daly into the centres.
But it is the back row that needs addressing if England are to stand any chance in Japan next year, with Chris Robshaw and James Haskell under pressure.
It could be argued that there is not the strength in depth to make wholesale changes and that is why Jones has held on to those who have served him well in the past.
There is still enough time to get it right and England may be worth a punt with these best online bookmakers, but, after a period of reflection, work must begin on finding the solution to problems that were not there 12 months ago.
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