England’s players are to be subjected to a revolutionary two-year fitness regime after Eddie Jones warned his squad is currently not fit enough to win the World Cup in Japan in 2019.

Jones insists his forwards, in particular, must be reconditioned to be able to cope with the demands of the modern game. He intends to bring in fitness specialists, including Dave Reddin, England’s strength and conditioning coach when Sir Clive Woodward’s side won the World Cup in 2003, to help draw up the fitness plan in conjunction with the Premiership clubs.

Jimmy Radcliffe, the University of Oregon’s highly-respected strength and conditioning coach, and former mixed martial arts fighter Dean Amasinger, will also be involved.

“They’re not fit enough to win the World Cup, and we want to win the World Cup”, said Jones of his players, who have just returned from a week-long training camp in the Algarve.

“You don’t have to be fit enough now to win the World Cup, you have to be fit enough to win the World Cup at 19:59 on November 2, 2019 (the date of the final). We’ve got some great plans in place to fix that.”