BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Jamie Peacock has called for personal accountability from the RFL and for a review after England were knocked out of the World Cup in the semi-finals.
The hosts failed to reach the final after losing to Samoa in the final four.
Former national team skipper Peacock believes the failure needs proper analysis and scrutiny.
He mentioned the removal of Wayne Bennett as head coach in 2020, and the appointment of Shaun Wane, as key factors.
“You’d like to see some personal accountability, above and beyond the players,” he said on the BBC after the final.Â
“Players always get scrutinized. But there’s some questions that need to be asked about how a team can go from 60-4 in four weeks time and look fried playing against Samoa.Â
“I think some big decisions, for me, got made before this World Cup three years ago around the coach, Wayne Bennett.Â
“The reason I mention Wayne Bennett is there is a couple of anomalies in World Cup rugby – NZ winning in 2008, they were nowhere near winning it before then.
“England making the final in Australia in 2017, we’d not made a final for 30 years. A coach associated with both those performances was Wayne Bennett.Â
“He was an assistant to NZ and he was the head coach for England in 2017. In 2019 after an awful Great Britain tour the board of directors went against the the director of rugby’s report and recommendation that Wayne Bennett stays on, and got rid of him.Â
“Now they go through a process, put their own coach in and we’re sat here then, four years later, all disappointed because we thought England should have been in the final.Â
“They’ve got to take some level of accountability. And then also I think we need a review into the performance.Â
“In 2008 we had a poor World Cup, we lost the semi-final to NZ. We had a performance review off the back of it – scorched earth – and three positives came out of it, which changed the game and allowed us to get closer to Australia again.Â
“I think the same needs to happen here again, but we’re not hearing anything at the moment.”
England have reached one World Cup since 1995, missing out in 2000, 2008, 2013 and now in 2022.
Peacock was team manager under Bennett at the 2017 World Cup. He believes a review into the current campaign is needed.
“We are all sat here because we want improvements in our game, and we want to know the reasons why England didn’t make it in a home World Cup and get to the final and play against Australia,” he said.
“I’d like two things – personal accountability and some improvements going forward  and I think those things can help the men’s team perform better.”
Peacock feels England were “too intense” at the start of the World Cup.
“They were too intense at the start of the tournament,” he said.
“In a Rugby World Cup tournament the Australians mentioned it’s a long period. You’ve got to build that intensity as you go through it.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
