Eddie: I got it so wrong on Robshaw
JONES SAYS SORRY FOR SPORTSMAIL COLUMN!
EddIE JonES admitted he was wrong to label Chris Robshaw a ‘club player’ after the flanker was named co-captain for England’s fixture against the Barbarians on Sunday.
Writing as a Sportsmail columnist during the 2015 World Cup, Jones was highly critical of Robshaw before he was stripped of the captaincy when England crashed out.
But in dylan Hartley’s absence, Robshaw will lead his country once more — alongside George Ford — less than two years after Jones called him a ‘six-and-ahalf’, suggesting he was not a true no 7 openside flanker.
‘He’s been a fantastic six-anda-half,’ joked Jones. ‘ Where’s the Daily Mail? That was the best column I ever wrote! When you guys write a column and someone doesn’t like it you always blame the sub-editor — so I’m blaming my sub-editor!
‘As soon as I went to watch him play closely, he was like a Richard Hill. He’s one of those guys that works so hard off the ball and does the little things you don’t see. That’s his greatest attribute. He works back and makes that tackle, works back and dives on the ball, gets into the breakdown. It’s all the non-glamorous work that he does. He’s exceptional at it.
‘He’s got such a good character and I can’t say that more sincerely. He’s courteous and he helps out people within the team all the time. When you play 55 Tests in the back row, you’re a bloody good player.’
Robshaw and Ford will lead a side featuring eight uncapped players at Twickenham — including rookie flanker Sam Underhill in the infamous no 7 Eddie’s controversial column for Sportsmail back in 2015 jersey. Hartley will be restored as skipper for the Argentina tour, but Jones has not ruled out bringing back the co-captaincy for the 2019 World Cup.
‘At this stage it’s just for this game but I remember at the Brumbies we had three vicecaptains,’ said Jones. ‘Everyone said to me, “You can’t do that”, but there’s no set structure. The world’s changing so maybe it is right to have two captains.
‘It’s not like Winston Churchill. Someone doesn’t say, “Get on the ground, we’ll fight them on the beaches”. When we get a penalty, dylan will go up to owen Farrell and say, “Should we kick this one? Is it in your range?” There’s always a discussion.’
For Robshaw, it will be his first England appearance of 2017, and he admitted he thought the days of leading his country at Twickenham were over after reading Jones’s column.
‘I probably didn’t expect to be in this position again,’ said Robshaw. ‘Especially after all that with Eddie and what he said about me early on.
‘But now I am and I’m looking forward to it. I didn’t want my time to end after the World Cup, I wanted to continue playing. I couldn’t be one of these guys to come in and mope around. I’ve been given a second chance.’ ENGLAND XV v BARBARIANS: Brown (Harlequins); Earle (Saracens), James (Sale), Lozowski (Saracens), May (Gloucester); Ford (Bath), Care (Harlequins); Genge (Leicester), Singleton (Worcester), Collier (Harlequins); Ewels (Bath), Isiekwe (Saracens); Robshaw (Harlequins), Beaumont (Sale), Underhill (Bath).