Lawrence Dallaglio believes England have never been further behind the world’s top teams so close to a Rugby World Cup.
England narrowly avoided slipping to an all-time low world ranking of ninth last weekend, by scraping a patchy 19-17 win over Wales at Twickenham.
Now Steve Borthwick’s men must face the world’s number-one ranked side Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
World Cup-winner Dallaglio warned England that they will not win next month’s tournament by relying on a strong set-piece game and tactical nous alone.
“On current form they are so far away from a team that look capable of winning the World Cup,” Dallaglio told Standard Sport.
“I can’t remember a tournament where they go in, albeit with two matches to go, in terms of results and performances, where they have been so far away from what I would call the best teams in the world.
“They’ve got a lot of hard work to do on the pitch, because you are not just going to win the World Cup just with a good scrum, a good lineout, a good box kick and a good tackle count.
“You’re going to need a bit more than that, because the game has changed immeasurably I think.
“On the positive side, things can change quickly, and Jamie George, Ben Earl, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes really did all put their hands up when it was needed against Wales last week.”
England have Manu Tuilagi fit again and starting at inside centre in Dublin, with hopes as ever pinned on the wrecking-ball midfielder to generate momentum for the Red Rose outfit.
Head coach Borthwick’s men have the Dublin clash and then the home fixture with Fiji on Saturday week before heading out to the World Cup.
England will take on Argentina in Marseille on Saturday, September 9 and time is running out to fix a litany of shortcomings.
“Their lack of tries, lack of creativity and their consistent error count, including unforced errors, is a big area of concern,” said Dallaglio.
“The mindset seems to be awfully slow. You’re not going to win a World Cup by playing slowly and unimaginatively.
“I’ve got no issue with being aggressive, but be aggressive the right way. Direct it into the right channel.
“I thought Ben Earl was again the standout player, as was Courtney Lawes, and Jamie George showed why he is the clear choice at hooker now that Luke Cowan-Dickie is injured.
“England scored 13 tries but conceded 18 in the Six Nations. They have now scored one and conceded four in their two World Cup warm-up matches.
“All you can say is there’s a lot of room for improvement, and at least these are just the mocks, not the real thing.”
