Eddie ran England players too hard

COACHES and directors of rugby at four of the English clubs which provide the majority of the players to Eddie Jones’s national squad have revealed their players have returned in a state of extreme fatigue.

The feedback presents yet another picture of a team that underperformed because of the excessive workload, both in the Aviva Premiership and inside England’s training camp.

Some coaches have also referenced the number of injuries suffered by England players in training. During the course of the Six Nations, England lost Jack Nowell, Sam Underhill, Dylan Hartley, Harry Williams and Gary Graham— all to training ground injuries.

How England have managed their players’ workload has been at the heart of the inquest that has followed their three consecutive defeats. Some players declare that they are actually not fatigued at all.

‘‘We train very hard and it pays off,’’ was Jonny May’s comment after England lost to France. Yet it paid off neither that weekend nor the weekend after. Then the players returned to their clubs and a fuller picture began to emerge: myriad reports of how exhausted they are.

Almost all of these are off the record. This is not a time when anyone wants to criticise publicly and that is not just the players, but the clubs and their coaches. The power of Jones’s personality stretches wide across the game, which can choke feedback, particularly of a negative kind.

However, there has now been enough conversation between those inside the England tent and those outside of it to present a full picture.

Jones hasn’t lost the players’ confidence and his notorious work ethic is inspiring and, to some, infectious. Yet there is a point where it (a) wears people down and (b) they get fed up. England players have got to (a), they haven’t got to (b), although that is the danger.

Jones was the first England coach to cancel the midweek day off, so pictures of the Wales team at the Cheltenham Festival last week can’t have helped, or seeing the Ireland players on holiday in Dubai.

Arguably the greatest toll is the mental demands. Whether that is team meetings or analysis sessions, media and sponsor obligations, the players feel they are always under the microscope. As England and Jones go about the review process, it is essential that all this is addressed. The question is, with all that detailed performance data, how did Jones manage to get it wrong? TIMES