England coaches Phil Larder and Joe Lydon tonight fiercely defended their positions ahead of Saturday’s clash with Ireland and insisted they are the right men to lead England back to the top.

England’s 31-6 defeat to France on Sunday was their worst in the championship for 20 years and prompted Rugby Football Union chief executive Francis Baron to issue a warning that everyone involved is "expected to meet their targets".

Tryless defeats to Scotland and France in the last two rounds of the Six Nations is clearly way below what is acceptable for the world champions.

Lydon, the attack coach, has come under increasing criticism for England’s lack of creativity and their inability to either create or finish try-scoring opportunities. The temperature is also rising on Larder, England’s defence coach, after France were gifted three calamitous tries in Paris.

But Larder insisted today: "I am confident I am the right guy for the job and that I am doing a good job.

"The first thing you do as a coach is analyse your input and this has not shaken my belief in what I’m doing at all.

"Anybody who hangs a shirt on a peg or puts on a coaching hat accepts the fact there will be pressure. I feel under pressure every week and even more so when we have lost.

"This is a pressure job, it’s the name of the game. I don’t react to criticism from outside the camp, I react to a pretty awful performance. It was the worst performance I have been associated with."

Lydon also refuses to allow the impending post-tournament review distract him from the job at hand. The attack coach said: "Reviews always happen, after every game and every series, so that is not a problem for me.

"I am certainly aware of the criticism - we didn’t win and we didn’t score so it is not unjust.

"We have to take the pressure and criticism on the chin and as a coach I say I am responsible.

"The performance at the weekend was not acceptable but the pressure now is looking forward to the game against Ireland and not back on France."

Larder and Lydon received the full support of England captain Martin Corry, who blamed the players and their woeful execution of rugby’s basic skills for the defeat at Murrayfield and the record-equalling 31-6 defeat in Paris.

Corry said: "The criticism of the coaches isn’t fair.

"The mistakes we made were purely at the hands of the players. Those players will put our hands up to that."

But Larder, amazingly, revealed he was not surprised by the deterioration of England’s basic skills during the tournament.

The England camp wanted to keep the Test players away from club duty during the off-weeks of the Six Nations but failed to thrash out an agreement with the clubs.

Larder indicated that failure has cost England dramatically in the Six Nations.

"In the two matches we have lost the major factor has been a breakdown in fundamental skills," he said. "One of my jobs is to improve the basic fundamental skills of all the players. To be honest, this Six Nations I haven’t had the time.

"I have had a total of 40 minutes pitch time each week in which to build up communication, build up the intensity and work on how to nullify the opposition’s key players.

"There is a lot to do in a very short amount of time.

"One of the things which has had to be put on the sideline is working on the fundamentals, so it is no surprise to me that we are seeing the basic skills breaking down.

"I have always been of the opinion we will struggle if we don’t get more time with the players."

Ireland are going for a third win in a row over England on Saturday, which would bring at least a Triple Crown, but more than likely a few personnel changes in the England set-up as well.