Greenwood defends Eddie Jones over fan incidents

Former England centre Will Greenwood has come to the defence of Eddie Jones after footage of an incident with a fan has gone viral on social media.

The confrontation occurred after England secured a 2-1 series win over the Wallabies in the SCG.

After leaving the coaches box, Jones was called a ‘traitor’ by a member of the crowd who was wearing an Australian hat and was holding a beer as Jones passed by on the pitch.

The Australian took exception and marched over to the fan and told him “come here and say it”, before being held back by security. In fact, it was the second incident in the space of about 60 seconds between Jones and a large group of fans he was obliged to pass by as he made his way to the stadium changing rooms.

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“We maybe think of the new education minister, Andrea Jenkyns, last week when she was going into 10 Downing Street with the hand gesture and her response was that she’s only human and I think that’s the same with Eddie Jones,” Greenwood told Sky Sports.

“I think everyone with one of these [holds up smart phone] is a reporter right? So every action, every interaction is caught so you have act like a Tibetan monk, you have to act like a saint the whole time and you get objectable young people, not a keyboard warrior, but in this case a behind-the-fence warrior, who shout things and think they’re immune from any response and when you get one, it makes news.

“The reality is Eddie is a rugby lover and a Australia lover. Does the best he can for his country and some yob shouts some pretty average language and he gets the right to respond. We’ll park it, leave it, and move on.”

Jones told the Sydney Morning Herald that: “Clowns think they have full go to abuse coaches.”

The 62-year-old had spoken after the second Test win in the Suncorp Arena of how he had enjoyed rubbing it in the face of the more vocal Aussie fans.

“You have got 48,000 people all full of drink and all they want to see is their team win. When you turn them away, it’s a great experience. A great feeling,” Jones said. “I was coming out from the coaches’ box and they all have their scarves on. When did Australians start wearing scarves? It’s all the rage isn’t it? They are not so smart now.

“Before the game they are coming up saying to me you are going to get belted tonight. Now they are a little bit more quiet. So that’s good. I enjoy that.”