From England's darkest hour to the rising sun: the similarities to the 2015 Rugby World Cup are remarkable

Four years on from the 2015 embarrassment, Eddie Jones is primed to head into the 2019 Rugby World Cup dependent on the same leaders that Stuart Lancaster put his faith into. So what’s changed?

Four years on from England’s darkest hour in rugby union, Eddie Jones is set to return to the same trio of players to start their bid to win the Rugby World Cup as who Stuart Lancaster put his faith in.

Jones is likely to start with George Ford at fly-half in Sunday’s Pool C clash against Tonga, just like Lancaster did, meaning captain Owen Farrell will move to inside centre to accommodate his close friend and teammate. With Ben Youngs expected to get the nod at scrum-half, the half-backs will replicate the partnership Lancaster selected.

When the pressure came on in that World Cup opener, Lancaster turned to Farrell to lead the charge, with the then 23-year-old fly-half sending Mike Brown over for the crucial score that killed the game. Eight days later, Lancaster reinstalled Farrell to the starting line-up, but against Wales came the beginning of the end.

The irony is not lost in that England’s campaign will once again begin against Pacific Island opposition, though England fans will hope that the difference in Tonga will not be the only difference this time around. England struggled to a 35-11 victory on that night at Twickenham four years ago, though it took two tries in the final eight minutes to awake home fans from their slumber and seal their first win of a campaign that would end two weeks later after losses to Wales and Australia.

These were the circumstances that brought Jones to England to try and restore the nation’s rugby union credentials, though four years on the similarities are remarkable. Sunday’s back line could see not just Youngs and Ford start in the same formation as they did under Lancaster, but also Jonny May and Anthony Watson, who look set to take spots on the wing. Even Jonathan Joseph could rekindle his role at outside centre, meaning five of the seven backs on display could be from the Lancaster era. In the pack, Joe Marler, Dan Cole and Courtney Lawes all started that Fiji game.

The question then is what have they learned from that experience?

“I think it helped us at the time to improve quickly,” said Farrell of the 2015 nightmare. “I think we did that and I think it gave us some good experience. But I feel like it is a long time ago now and, in-house, we are not really comparing anything we are doing now to back then. Obviously everybody else will do outside of here. But I think we feel like we are in a good place and we are excited about getting going.

“It's been four years and hopefully there will be a lot of change - whether that is as players or people. I don't think anyone is the same as they were four years ago. Hopefully most have changed for the better.”

Lancaster did stress before – and after – the tournament that the team he ended up picking was one suited to 2019 and not 2015, but the embarrassment of a home World Cup failure proved too much for the RFU and for Lancaster himself.

“It feels like we've improved,: reflected Farrell four years on. “I'm hoping we'll approve after this tournament as well and after the next one. We've got a few more caps than in the last one, a bit more experience.

“But more than that the group feels in a good space. I'm not saying that we didn't after the last one, most people would tell you that we did. But we'd hope that we've come on.”

Eddie Jones is likely to start George Ford at fly-half (Getty)

Where once Chris Robshaw stood, now it will be Farrell as he captains his first World Cup campaign. The Saracens stand-off has taken the reins from Dylan Hartley, who remains absent with a long-term knee injury, and he has seen his captaincy questioned at times over the last 15 months since he was appointed co-captain.

First came the way England unravelled against South Africa last summer, then came the scrutiny on his own tackling technique in the 2018 autumn internationals. But perhaps the biggest scrutiny arrived when England went from a winning position against Wales in Cardiff to a losing one, and then more so when they let a 37-0 lead over Scotland descend into a lucky 38-38 draw in which Ford scored a last-play equalising try.

Since then, Farrell has spoken with past England captains considered greats of the game in Will Carling and Martin Johnson, the former through his role with the Rugby Football Union as a mentor and the latter during an in-training meeting during the summer.

Owen Farrell is likely to start at inside centre against Tonga (Getty)

Farrell was able to bounce anything he wanted off the experience pair, but it is no surprise to hear that there is not a simple answer to the simple question: what makes a good captain?

“No real secrets to it,” said Farrell on the advice he received. “No magic potion to get it, it’s all about doing your job, everybody, and being in the best place to do that and bring the best out of ourselves.

“It’s a massive honour but the most important thing is the team, the team doing well and us preparing as well as we possibly can to perform in this tournament.

“We lean on everyone in different ways. Everybody has a massive role to play while they’re here. It’s important that all the 31 pull in the right direction, all the 31 care massively about the team doing well. I think we’ve got a great group of lads for that. Some will speak more than others, of course, but there will be others who put a smile on people’s faces and others who get stuff organised. Every little thing that you’ll do over the course of this tournament is to bring everybody else in the same direction.”

England players meanwhile have been told to turn off their phones an hour before kick-off in Japan in order to avoid any illegal approaches over match-fixing and betting, with the repercussions on the shocking investigation surrounding Rob Howley being felt ahead of the World Cup.

Howley is being investigated by the Welsh Rugby Union after being accused of breaching World Rugby regulation 6, specifically in relation to betting on rugby, which is banned for all players, coaches, backroom staff and many other positions involved within the sport.

With the rugby world reeling from the news, England’s scrum coach Neil Hatley revealed on Wednesday that he was all the more surprised by the news given that they had been subjected to two integrity briefings surrounding the matter, though one came in the wake of the Howley allegations.

"All the stipulations were set out very, very clearly,” Hatley said. “I know it gets done at the clubs and the Rugby Players' Association are actively involved in it so there is real clarity around it.

"I was a little bit surprised but it's all very clear, it's made clear before we arrived and it was made clear two days ago. It's a real [warning] for everyone at the tournament. A real live reminder."