Successor.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) have already begun their search for a potential successor to current England head coach Eddie Jones according to  director of professional rugby Nigel Melville.

Jones recently signed a contract extension that will see him remain on until 2021, but has come under fire recently after a string of poor results. And it appears the RFU are already looking beyond the Australian, despite giving him their full backing.

“We are looking at where we go post-Eddie, whenever that might be,” Melville told Sky Sports News.

“We’re always tracking coaches, we’re always tracking English coaches coming through as well – who is making the grade? Who is a potential England coach in the future?”

“We’re also looking abroad. We’ve got English coaches abroad, other people who might be interested as well.”

“Always planning, always looking at succession but of course the World Cup is our priority at the moment. Let’s not get in the way of that.”

It’s believed Jones will definitely be in charge for next year’s Rugby World Cup, but multiple sources indicate the RFU expect a semi-final in Japan as the minimum requirement for the national side. Should Jones not achieve that, we could see the former Japan coach move on sooner than expected.

England face South Africa in their opening autumn international on November 3 ahead of further games against New Zealand, Japan and Australia. Jones no doubt will be hoping he can use the window to restore some confidence.