Monday 5 October 2015 06:58, UK
Former England centre Will Greenwood has backed Stuart Lancaster to remain as England's head coach.
Lancaster and his coaching team of Graham Rowntree, Andy Farrell and Mike Catt have come under ferocious criticism on the morning after England's shock pool stage exit from the World Cup, with many calling for a change of personnel.
However, 2003 World Cup winner Greenwood believes the men in charge should be given time to learn from their mistakes at the tournament.
"I would certainly give him the opportunity to, I really would" said Greenwood.
"I suspect Stuart Barnes and Dean Ryan might have a slightly different opinion and I suspect a lot of people at the moment are really angry at the way we are now holding a tag that no one else has got which is a host going out in the pool stages and all sorts of abject words being thrown around this squad.
"But do I believe he, alongside those guys, can improve and can come back and be stronger? Absolutely I do."
At the eye of the storm is the issue of the selection policy used by England coaching set up, in particular the ever changing midfield.
Lancaster has failed to settle upon a midfield since he took over as England coach in 2012, using 18 different midfield partnerships in his tenure, including fielding an unfamiliar combination of Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph for the crunch match against Australia.
Speaking during England's World Cup Verdict, Greenwood called for Lancaster to not shoulder the burden of selection alone and utilise the knowledge of other to prevent further failure.
"I think it goes back to Dean Ryan a little bit, in terms of the selection is something that's not overly considered as being the most important thing for the top level guy.
"I think that at the heart of it lies in his potential ability to use key men and I talk about holding an olive branch out, I talk about being able to talk to people like Clive Woodward and have him in and around because selection is the hardest thing for me and I think that's the biggest problem, the biggest failure I suspect that you can put at Stuart's door is the inability to find that right combination."