England’s miserable flops warned that they face the axe
EDDIE JONES warned his England flops that they may never play for their country again after their worst Six Nations finish since 1982.
England handed the Grand Slam to Ireland and Jones was booed by the crowd after a third consecutive defeat.
The under-fire head coach made seven changes for the tournament finale, but there could be more casualties by the time England depart for their summer tour of South Africa.
‘Some guys have come in and done really well and some may struggle to participate in the future,’ said Jones. ‘We have to get a greater depth to our squad that can play Test rugby.
‘There are some guys who are starting their international careers and they need time. I have to decide whether I have got time to get them ready for the World Cup.’
The thick-skinned Australian played down the boos as he was interviewed over the stadium tannoy at full-time.
Some jeers came from frustrated England supporters, while others came from the visitors after a video emerged of Jones describing the Irish as ‘scummy’.
‘Didn’t hear it, mate,’ he claimed, referring to the boos. ‘Have you got a recording of it? I’ll listen to it later, put me to sleep tonight. The only thing I can control is coaching the team.
‘I can’t control what you guys write. I can’t control what you say, what the crowd does. All I can do is coach to the best of my ability.’
During the course of the competition, England have slipped behind Ireland to third in the world rankings.
Jones had hoped to close the gap on the All Blacks, but was forced to admit that it has increased following defeats by Scotland, France and Ireland.
‘I have never compared us to the All Blacks,’ he said. ‘I said we are chasing the All Blacks. If you look at the results then, yes (the gap has got bigger).
‘I know that is hard to see but in terms of where we want to go as a team we are moving forward. Unfortunately, it is something that you have to have because you never find out about yourself unless you have these runs.’