sport news SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: England head coach Eddie Jones has RFU bigwigs in his ... trends now
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As a head coach I constantly wanted to minimise the number of distractions to my team.
Ahead of a huge game with South Africa on Saturday, this England side have been distracted yet again by more headlines about Eddie Jones. I cannot believe the RFU keep allowing it to happen. Clearly there is no one there who understands top-level international sport and especially rugby, which in itself is bizarre.
This week, Jones’s name was front and centre in the media but not because of his role with England. It was for all the wrong reasons. There has been lots of talk about what Jones is going to do after England and the latest team he has been linked to is the USA on an eight-year deal.
Eddie Jones’ name was front and centre in the media for all the wrong reasons this week
Frankly, who cares? I’m bored by the whole thing. I don’t care what Jones does next. What I do care about is how he and the England side are faring now, especially as World Cup year approaches.
Talk over the coach’s future does not help any team. I don’t know where the USA story came from, but the RFU should not be allowing it to come out in the week of a big Test. It is the latest example which shows why Bill Sweeney and Conor O’Shea are totally out of their depth at the governing body. It is a shame the select committee for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport did not have time to question them yesterday about the way our international team is run.
If you believe Sweeney and O’Shea, a review has been done a couple of times but only by people who do not wish to be named! There are some things you just cannot make up.
They do not stand up to Jones. They nod when he tells them to nod. He does what he wants. Frankly, Jones has both Sweeney and O’Shea in his pocket.
Some reading this might argue the England players will not get distracted by media talk about Jones’s future. Nothing
