ENGLAND CAN’T BE BIG BROTHER
Young calls for equality in club v country debate
WASPS’ director of rugby Dai Young last night called for unity between club and country over the handling of players. But he insisted that England could not be the ‘ big brother’ in the relationship with the Premiership elite.
The Welshman made his comments after revealing that his club’s flanker Sam Jones (below) will be out of action for five months having broken his leg and suffered a serious ankle injury while taking part in a judo session during England training in Brighton last week.
There have been recriminations following the national squad gathering, as Bath wing Anthony Watson suffered a broken jaw and Exeter are angry about the leg injury sustained by Jack Nowell.
England coach Eddie Jones is due to meet club directors of rugby later this week to clear the air.
‘Sam Jones has a significant ankle injury which will keep him out for around five months — which is obviously a disaster,’ said Young. ‘ We are very frustrated and disappointed, but I don’t think it is right for me to vent my frustrations through the media, because it will drive a wedge between us.
‘ It can’t be England and the clubs against each other; we have to be together. There can’t be a big brother in this relationship. They are not more important than us and we are not more important than them.
‘We all want a strong national team and we want strong club teams. If we are all going to achieve what we want to, we won’t do that by going separate ways.
‘I like to think we can review what went on and see if we can learn from it. If mistakes were made and there are things we can do better, then let’s do that together.’
Young’s Saracens counterpart Mark McCall criticised Premiership Rugby last week for the way they had negotiated with the RFU over a new agreement allowing England more access to players for additional training sessions. Yesterday, McCall added: ‘Our issue was with the timing of the camp, not the contents.
‘He (Eddie Jones) can do what he wants and I would do the same if I was him.’
Meanwhile, McCall revealed that Owen Farrell is finally destined to make his first appearance of the season, when Saracens face mighty Toulon in the south of France on Saturday.
‘We hope to have Owen and Alex Goode available for next weekend,’ he said. ‘For us to play the first six games and win five of them without Owen is a good achievement.’