'Belittled': Woodward fires back at Jones' 'insulting' comments
Clive Woodward has yet again verbally blasted Eddie Jones, branding the current England head coach’s comments on English rugby’s private school system as divisive and disrespectful. Woodward has regularly locked horns with Jones in recent years and the reason for their latest collision is how Jones, in a recent wide-ranging interview with The i newspaper, claimed that the public schools system only builds compliant rugby players who can’t respond to adversity on the field.
“They are good, tough players,” said Jones in the interview. “They work hard but they only know what they know. If you have only been in a system where you get to 15, you have a bit of rugby ability and then go to Harrow. Then for two years you do nothing but play rugby, everything is done for you. That is the reality. You have this closeted life.
“It’s the way the players are educated. I have been here seven years now and I have never seen kids in a park playing touch football [rugby]. Never. Zero. In the southern hemisphere, they are all doing that, developing their skills. Here you see them playing football but never touch football. That’s the problem. It’s all formal coaching, in a formal setting, in public schools. You are going to have to blow the whole thing up at some stage, change it because you are not getting enough skilful players through.”
Jones also disparagingly labelled the 2003 England World Cup win as a “situational success”, giving Woodward, the coach at the time, further fuel to eventually hit back in his latest Sportsmail column in the Daily Mail after he initially bit his tongue over the weekend to see if there would be an official RFU reaction to what the Australian critically had to say.
“I gave myself 24 hours before I looked to respond to Eddie Jones’ divisive and disrespectful comments on English rugby’s private school system. To be perfectly honest, in that time I expected the Rugby Football Union to come out and say something. But, as usual, we heard nothing from the head honchos at Twickenham,” bemoaned Woodward in the intro to a searing column that went on to tackle Jones’ negative opinion.
SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Eddie Jones has no right to belittle the English game. It's INSULTING. https://t.co/dlJoP4l46Q
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) August 9, 2022
“Jones’ comments in comparison seem so misplaced. They are insulting to English rugby. At a time when the game must work together to solve incredibly important issues, to hear such a divisive stance from the England coach is astonishing. If Jones’ comments were solely concerned with growing the game and finding ways to take rugby to new schools and unearth new talent, you would support him. But that is not what he is saying… To blame England’s failure to win big games on his players’ backgrounds is a total cop-out.
“Part of coaching is creating decision-makers and leaders yourself. That is just an important part of the job as the work you do on the field. Jones cannot blame the school system for English rugby’s struggles. There are brilliant people working in both private and state schools.
“Jones should be thanking the coaches at schools level for bringing talent like Henry Arundell through instead of criticising them. How do the teachers who have helped develop players like Maro Itoje and Arundell at Harrow School feel after Jones’ comments? They have been belittled.
“Twelve of the 23 players in the England squad for their last Test against Australia in July went to fee-paying schools. The other 11 went to state schools. The division is roughly equal. Rugby is a game for everyone and the current England side represents the country well, not only in terms of educational background but in social and racial diversity too.”
As regards the downplaying by Jones – the then Australia coach – on England winning the 2003 World Cup, Woodward retorted: “Describing 2003 as a blip does not do justice to what was a golden period of English rugby. Moreover, it is an insult to the players of that era who paved the way for future generations… The only reason 2003 can be described as a ‘situational success’ is that it is the only time the people involved got the ‘situation’ right.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Finn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
2 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
1 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
10 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
18 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
2 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
10 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
10 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
10 Go to commentsLove Manu but he's not the player he was and I imagine Bayonne have paid too much money for him.
3 Go to commentsNew Zealand have not beaten England since 2018 and even that was a pretty close shave.
1 Go to comments“a renewed focus on Scottish-qualified players” Scottish-qualified is another way of saying English. England has development more players for the Scotland national Rugby team in the last 4 years, than Scotland has.
2 Go to commentsThis sounds a lot like the old Welsh rugby proverb “Wales never lose. Other teams just score more points.”
5 Go to commentsFinally,at last, Borthwick has done what the whole of England have been crying out for. Ditch the kick chase and let the players have freedom to attack and run with the ball. It was great to see. Ford played really well and for the first time in ages was 5 yards closer to the gainline which then allowed a more attacking position . Pity it has taken 90 odd caps to do so. However, this has to continue and not be a false dawn . One issue. Marcus. With Ford having one really good game in 5 ,is he the answer long term . Smith puts bums on seats and is terrific to watch . How can you leave him out before he departs for France in disillusion . England are in danger of Simmons , Alex Goode , Cipriani , Mercer and now Smith being unable to get a selection ahead of “favourites” of the management regardless of form . Great to see England play so well .
2 Go to commentsCockerill was an abrasive player in the mould of a Georgian front rower who will have the respect of that pack. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with this exciting team, hopefully they can send a message to unions like Wales that money alone doesn't buy you wins.
2 Go to comments