APOLOGY FOR VIOLENCE
Jones’ promise of brutality in Paris sickens father of tragic teenager
THE father of an 18-year-old rugby player who died after a double tackle has said that Eddie Jones is contributing to a deadly culture of violence in rugby with his vow to be ‘brutal’ against a young France side today.
Philippe Chauvin, whose son Nicolas died 48 hours after being hit by two opponents in his first start for the Stade Francais academy team, told The Mail on Sunday that England head coach Jones’ promise of ‘absolute brutality’ in the Six Nations opener reflects the sport’s drift into ‘an apology for violence’.
Chauvin, whose fatal tackle in December 2018 is captured in devastating detail in a video which has been viewed by The Mail on Sunday, said: ‘Eddie Jones’ statements are not reassuring if you take at face value the promise of violence that will be imposed on the youngsters of the French XV. ‘ Is English rugby in the same state of drift [as the French game]? What happens if there are serious injuries or worse when the two teams play each other? The transformation of rugby from an educational sport into an apology for violence is distressing. The game is coming to resemble the ‘Rollerball’ film. We’re heading
inexorably to another death.’
A leading neurosurgeon, who has operated on 22 players who sustained the type of injuries which killed Nicolas, also said that Jones’ language was unwelcome.
Prof Jean Chazal, a former adviser to France’s domestic league and a member of the Clermont- Ferrand medical committee, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Children learn a lot by imitating others. They reproduce behaviour that they see. It is important that words encourage the playing of the sport by the code of conduct.
‘Eddie Jones’ words encourage something that is dangerous in rugby. It is worrying and not good to be hearing something like that. The game is reaching a point of no return and this language is contributing to that.’
Nicolas’ death was the fourth in a period of eight months, leading to an initial period of reflection for the French game about the risk of head injuries which have been the source of a Mail on Sunday campaign.
But his father says the French Rugby Federation (FFR) have not suspended the players involved and are not interested in preventing the highly marketable culture of violence.
Prof Chazal said French rugby is so averse to admitting the game’s rising violence that his public discussion of it saw him released by the league last year. He said: ‘The coaches told me, “You have to be quiet.” I speak too much, but speak truth, even if what I say disturbs people. But I was not prepared to do that.’