England must avert World Cup crisis with win over Australia

Owen Farrell's fall from grace is the most obvious result of English rugby's awful autumn

Owen Farrell
(Image credit: David Rogers/Gett)

A month ago the England rugby squad was feeling pretty pleased with itself. Coach Stuart Lancaster had just been rewarded for two years of steady improvement with a new contract that guaranteed his position until 2020, RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie explaining that "it's the right leap of faith... a commitment to sustainable success".

Lancaster, for his part, had lost only 11 of his 30 matches since taking over from Martin Johnson at the start of 2012 and was impressively bullish when he signed the deal. "We believe that England Rugby is moving in the right direction, we have the right coaching and management team to take us forward and are excited about the challenge ahead," he told reporters.

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