Jones writes letter to Raducanu to clarify remarks on loss of form
Eddie Jones has written to British tennis sensation Emma Raducanu to explain his comments that she has been overburdened by commercial “distractions” in the wake of her US Open victory.
England’s head coach made the remarks to illustrate his belief that Marcus Smith must remain grounded after the 22-year-old Harlequins magician stepped off the bench to orchestrate a late flurry of tries in a 69-3 victory over Tonga last weekend.
Jones suggested that Raducanu has struggled for form since triumphing at Flushing Meadows in September because of her off-court activity.
“There’s a reason why the young girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards,” Jones said. “What have you seen her on – the front page of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar or whatever it is, wearing Christian Dior clothes. All that is a distraction around her.”
Jones’s language was deemed sexist by some, including former British No 1 Jo Durie, and while he rejects that allegation, he has contacted the 18-yearold to clarify what he meant.
“The whole point was how difficult it is for young players to cope with distractions,” Jones told BBC Sport yesterday. “So the point I made was not wrong. I can’t control it if it’s taken out of context. There was no criticism of Emma.
“I have sent her a letter just to reinforce that and hopefully we’ll see her at Twickenham shortly.
“I don’t have any misgivings about what I said – I am disappointed it was taken out of context, and I would be disappointed if Emma was upset by it. It was deemed as being sexist and that was never the aim of the point.”
Turning his attention to tomorrow’s Twickenham clash against Australia, Jones has given Manu Tuilagi a roaming role on the wing as he plots to reinforce the Wallabies’ “inferiority complex” over England.
Tuilagi moves from inside centre where he started the victory over Tonga that launched the Autumn Nations Series, displacing Adam Radwan and creating space in midfield for Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell.
His only previous Test appearance in the position came under the previous England regime on tour to New Zealand in 2014 when a lack of pace was exposed and the experiment was immediately abandoned.
But Jones insists the 30-year-old wrecking ball is now in peak condition having recently clocked his top speed on GPS and will make an impact by operating as an additional centre instructed to maraud across the pitch.
“I have seen Manu play on the wing and he can handle 12, 13, 11, 14 – he can handle all of those with aplomb,” Jones said. “I see a powerful player who’s probably in the best condition of his career, who will add to the ball players we’ve got inside and will finish off the movements that we have. He’ll be able to roam on the field, play like a second or third centre.
“Last season Gael Fickou played on the wing for France and was outstanding. The game lends itself to a powerhouse centre so we’re looking forward to him playing there.”
Henry Slade was a candidate to make way for the return of Farrell, who was ruled out against Tonga by a false-positive coronavirus test, but his man-ofthe-match performance last Saturday made a compelling case for his retention at outside centre.