England need to improve their discipline, Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney says, arguing that the team ranks as the world’s second-best side when it keeps all 15 players on the pitch. He said analysis placed England as low as eighth or ninth when they were reduced to 14 players.

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

Sweeney said discipline had been the subject of internal discussion and that head coach Steve Borthwick was working with the players to address it. England begin their November campaign against Australia on Sunday, followed by matches against Japan on 14 November and New Zealand on 21 November.

The discussion came as Sweeney also addressed ticket sales for the first Nations Championship finals weekend at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. He said sales for Friday’s matches had been challenging, while those for Saturday and Sunday were going well. The teams for Friday’s games will be confirmed after the preceding weekend’s results.

The new biennial tournament is a joint venture between the Six Nations and Rugby Championship organisers Sanzaar. Its finals weekend will feature six play-off matches over three days, with the top northern and southern hemisphere teams competing for the title. All matches also contribute to the Hemisphere Shield.

Sweeney said organisers were still working to build understanding of the competition and expected ticket sales to improve as the standings became clearer. The upper tier of the stadium had not yet opened, and seats remained available in the lower section.

Plans for the tournament’s second edition have also changed. Qatar had been provisionally identified to host the 2028 finals weekend, before the event was moved to the United States in 2030 as part of efforts to grow the sport ahead of the country’s 2031 Rugby World Cup. Sweeney said possible locations for 2028 include London, France, Spain or a host in the Middle East, with organisers weighing commercial returns against accessibility for fans.

Six Nations and Sanzaar have agreed to establish a dedicated team to manage the Nations Championship and speed up its development.

Sources: BBC Sport.