Eddie in the dock over his growing injury list
THE ClUB versus country row raged on last night as the boss of Premiership Rugby admitted the league’s relationship with Eddie Jones has ‘hit a roadblock’.
The controversy surrounds the number of players — at least 15 — injured during Jones’s brutal England training camps, with Worcester centre Ben Te’o the latest casualty having suffered a quadriceps tear this week.
Mark McCafferty, Premiership Rugby’s chief executive, said: ‘Are we concerned about injuries happening in England training? Yes, and it’s the same for club training.
‘The only way that the English system works is through collaboration. Everything up to this point has been very collaborative. But we have hit a roadblock. We’ve got to see how significant that roadblock is and find a way around it.’
McCafferty insists the matter will be raised at next month’s Professional Game Board m e e t i n g, attended by Premiership Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Players’ Association.
Bath owner Bruce Craig has slammed England, calling the injury rate ‘totally unacceptable’. Jones hit back by saying nobody had the right to tell him how to coach the national team.
Meanwhile, Wales coach Warren Gatland has said he will not stand in the way of defence coach Shaun Edwards if England try to poach him.