EDDIE LETS A PLANE TAKE THE STRAIN
England will fly to Paris, rejecting their traditional journey by train following Scots’ abuse of Jones
EDDIE JONES will fly to France for next week’s Six Nations clash rather than take the train to Paris.
Jones insists he is not dispirited by the events of Sunday when he was physically and verbally abused on the rattler home from Scotland.
“Part of the challenge, mate,” he said of an ordeal which was captured on video and yesterday condemned by Scottish Rugby as “disgusting”.
“When I came to England, there were always going to be challenges,” added Jones.
“An Australian coaching England – there will always be challenges. This is just one of them. We march on. We’ve got a game against France to do.”
Under Jones’ predecessor, Stuart Lancaster, England took the Eurostar to Paris for Le Crunch in the 2014 Six Nations. But there will be no repeat. British Transport Police are continuing their investigation into the harassment of Jones on two separate trains, returning to London via Manchester.
Footage emerged yesterday of Jones being jostled and subjected to foul-mouthed abuse by four Scots after stopping to pose with them for a selfie on arrival at Manchester Oxford Road station. One calls Jones a “baldy c***”.
An unconnected incident on the later journey to London was brought to the attention of police, who met the train at Euston.
A BTP statement read: “We received a third-party report of verbal abuse towards a man on board a train between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston on Sunday. This was at around 7pm- 7.30pm. BTP officers met the train at London Euston. No arrests have been made and inquiries continue.”
Leading figures in Scottish Rugby united to blast those who had brought shame on the nation. An appalled governing body tweeted: “The disgusting behaviour of those involved does not represent the values of our sport or its fans. The dignity Eddie and the England team showed on Saturday is in stark contrast to this ugly incident.” Tartan legend Scott Hastings tweeted: “I am really upset about this. These despicable idiots are a disgrace. We need to find them, name & shame them & fine them for public disorder & harassment.” Craig Chalmers added: “I apologise Eddie, but these idiots do not represent Scottish rugby.” RFU bosses have begun a security review in light of the strange decision not to have anyone accompany Jones on his journey.