Former Rugby Football Union chairman Martyn Thomas has said that the England team have been a 'shambles' in recent years.

Stuart Lancaster stepped down as head coach on Wednesday after the team's poor performance at their home World Cup, which saw them fail to survive the pool stage and reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

Thomas has stated that England need to find a charismatic coach to succeed Lancaster if they want to stand a chance of winning the next World Cup in 2019.

"It's been shambolic," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "We won in 2003, 2007 was not as good. 2011 got poorer and as for 2015 we've come off the precipice

"To be a successful national international team coach you've got to have an X Factor. You've got to be a Steve Hansen, a Michael Cheika. Finding that individual is the difficulty and then slotting them into an organisation and it's not an easy task."

Australia coach Cheika, former South Africa coach Jake White and ex-Australia coach Eddie Jones have been linked with the England job since Lancaster's departure.