England are their own harshest critics says World Cup winner Will Greenwood

Will Greenwood says that the England players would agree that their Six Nations performance was not good enough.

Despite a heroic effort that saw England beat France 55-35 at Twickenham in the final game of their campaign, they  could not make up the points difference needed to pip Ireland to the title.

A fourth successive runners-up spot for Stuart Lancaster's side was described as "not acceptable" by Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie earlier this week.

World Cup winner Greenwood insists head coach Lancaster and the players will agree with that scathing assessment and try to use the disappointment in a positive way, just as he and his World Cup-winning team-mates did.

"Players are their own harshest critics. To suggest that Stuart Lancaster and the boys were celebrating a big win against France –  far from it,” said Greenwood.

"They were ruing a missed opportunity. Unfortunately at key moments in time we didn't take our chances.

"Those disappointments can often be recrafted into opportunities. It's right to set high standards. Played 20, won 16 in the Six Nations is Stuart Lancaster's record.

"Unacceptable is the fact we haven't won one of them, but played 20, won 16 with a young team building to a World Cup might be privately viewed as a nice learning curve as long as the curve keeps going up and doesn't plateau."

World Cup building

The stunning finale to the Six Nations has heightened interest in the tournament, where tickets are still available, going on resale from March 31.

"The excitement's building up around the World Cup now," Greenwood added.

"This is the most unbelievable tournament. We want to make sure we wring it dry of every opportunity."