Sweeney says England must improve discipline before Australia clash

England must cut down on yellow and red cards if they are to maintain their status as one of the world’s leading sides, Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney says, with the team’s November campaign starting against Australia on Sunday.

Sweeney said internal analysis showed England were the world’s second-best side when they had 15 players on the pitch, but fell to eighth or ninth when reduced to 14. He said head coach Steve Borthwick was working with players to improve their discipline.

England received eight yellow cards and one red across five matches during a difficult Six Nations campaign, spending 118 minutes with fewer than 15 players. They also finished July’s 45-21 defeat by South Africa with 13 men, after Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were sin-binned. Four second-half yellow cards against Argentina a fortnight later helped the visitors mount a near-comeback.

“It has been a big internal discussion,” Sweeney told BBC Sport. “You need all your players on the pitch for as long as possible. That’s something we need to address.”

England face Australia at Twickenham on Sunday, followed by matches against Japan on 14 November and New Zealand on 21 November. They will meet Australia again in the Nations Championship finals weekend at Twickenham on 27 November, under the standings and fixtures reported by BBC Sport.

Sweeney also said ticket sales for the finals weekend’s Friday fixtures had been challenging, with the upper tier of the 82,000-capacity stadium still unopened and seats available in the lower section. The match-ups will be confirmed after the previous weekend’s games. Sweeney said organisers hoped sales would rise as the standings became clearer, adding that some fans did not yet fully understand the new tournament.