Ian Ritchie wants England to be more competitive with the 2015 Rugby World Cup fast approaching © Getty Images

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RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie views England's performance since the Six Nations as unsatisfactory.

An encouraging runners-up finish in the championship was followed by a run of five consecutive defeats, three on the summer tour to New Zealand and autumn losses to the All Blacks and South Africa.

Victories over Samoa and Australia rescued a measure of respectability from the Autumn Tests with only eight matches left for head coach Stuart Lancaster to build a team capable of winning the 2015 World Cup.

Ritchie rejects the notion that England have stagnated this autumn and - while disappointed by the recent losses - he is convinced they will be ready for the global showpiece on home soil.

"It's been a very hard schedule - we've played New Zealand four times on the bounce," Ritchie said. "I don't make any apologies for that because we want to be playing the best in the world and judge ourselves against that.

"We've played four times against New Zealand and lost four. Verdict: that's not satisfactory and we want to do better than that.

"Absolutely this isn't a development phase, are we a learning team. We need to be and have to be competitive and beat those teams.

"We need to be in a position of beating every team. That's what we have to do. But there is no doubt in my mind that the margin is pretty small. There's no chasm of difference.

"It's very marginal and now it's about making sure that margin is made up. That's the view of the coaching team as well.

"Next year I undoubtedly think we'll be stronger not weaker, whether that's because of the time the squad have to train together or the availability of players."