Sweeney demands discipline from card-happy England

England must improve their discipline given they are the second-best side in the world when they have 15 players on the pitch, says Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney.

During a miserable Six Nations campaign, England received eight yellow cards and one red across five matches, meaning they played 118 minutes - almost a game and a half of rugby - at less than a full complement.

They finished the 45-21 defeat by South Africa in July with 13 men after yellow cards for Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper, while four second-half sin-binnings contributed to Argentina coming close to a successful fightback a fortnight later.

"It has been a big internal discussion," said Sweeney, who claims analysis also shows England slip to eighth or ninth best in the world when they are down to 14 players.

"[Head coach] Steve [Borthwick]'s very conscious of that and he's working really hard with the players to improve that aspect.

"You need all your players on the pitch for as long as possible. That's something we need to address."

England face Australia on Sunday in the first match of their November campaign.

Borthwick's side comfortably won last autumn's meeting between the two teams, but the Wallabies' shock 42-37 victory in 2024 is a recent reminder of their quality.

After matches against Japan (14 November) and New Zealand (21 November), England will play another southern hemisphere opponent in the first Nations Championship finals weekend at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

The new biennial event, introduced to bring a clearer narrative to the Test calendar outside of Rugby World Cup and British and Irish Lions tour years, culminates in six play-off matches over three days.

The teams at the top of the northern and southern hemisphere standings will play off for the Nations Championship title, while all matches count towards a Ryder Cup-style Hemisphere Shield trophy.

Sweeney admitted ticket sales for Friday's fixtures - which will see the sixth-placed and third-placed teams in their respective standings face off at 16:40 and 20:10 GMT respectively - had been "challenging" as the new tournament attempts to fill an 82,000-seater venue.

The upper tier of Allianz Stadium has yet to be opened, with plenty of seats still available in the lower section.

The identity of the teams involved in Friday's play-offs will only be finalised after the previous weekend's action.

With three of six rounds played, the current standings would pit Italy against Fiji in the day's first game, and England against Australia in its headline fixture.

"It's uncharted waters," Sweeney told BBC Sport of the finals weekend.

"Saturday and Sunday ticket sales are going well - Friday's a challenge at the moment.

"We're waiting to see how things go after this weekend when things start to firm up a bit and you'll get a better idea of where the league rankings are.

"A lot of fans still don't fully understand what it is and we've done a fair bit of education, but maybe not enough.

"Friday does remain a challenge, but we're confident that we'll see an uptick in ticket sales."