WHAT A SHINER
How DID Eddie end up like this?
EDDIE JONES is wellversed in providing injury bulletins, but not normally about himself. However, the England head coach appeared at the RBS Six Nations launch yesterday with a cut and swollen left eye, which took some explaining.
At first, it was claimed that he had suffered the damage from a fall while still at England’s temporary training base in the Algarve. Yet the mystery deepened when pictures emerged of the Australian having treatment to stem the flow of blood at the west London launch yesterday.
It was soon the primary talking point; a subject of intrigue, with the whiff of a cover-up. Rugby was shunted down the agenda. So, what happened?
Jones arrived clutching a bag of laundry and, at some stage, there was a shirt change. A room at thehe Hurlingham Club — which hosts the launch — was sealed off while he received first aid. When asked to explain, Jones said: ‘The eye isn’t bad. I slipped over in thee hotel. I went to get thehe shaver and just slipped.
‘ My mother told me I always have to shave. I forgot to shave and this is what happens when I follow what my mother says! I’ll be all right. I’ll be at training on Thursday, ready to go.’
In this age of concussion vigilance, there was a tongue- in- cheek enquiry about whether Jones was going through head- injury protocols and he said: ‘ When you’re my age, you don’t need a head check!’
He appeared to be in discomfort, sometimes speaking more slowly and distractedly than usual, but as ever he responded to all questions with authority and humour.
The accident did not alter his light-hearted nature. Asked about retaining Dylan Hartley as his England captain — following the hooker’s six-week ban for a dangerous tackle on Sean O’Brien — Jones said: ‘ Well, I haven’t actually told him yet. Shall I say now? OK, I’d like to officially announce Dylan’s the captain. There you go.’
Hartley had to endure the uncomfortable process of addressing his latest suspension. He admitted to fears that he would have his Test place and his leadership role taken away as a result oof an offence which hhe referred to as a ‘technical issue’.
‘ Obviously, you reflect on things when something like that happens,’ he said. ‘This is a privileged poposition and one I don’t take for granted — not just to be sat here as captain, but to be involved with the team.
‘I jeopardised that, put the team and myself in a sticky situation. It is sobering. You realise what is going on and what is at stake. I understood the position I had put myself and the team in.
‘I’ve had a clear directive from Eddie and the staff of what they expect. All I can do is repay that faith with how I play. I’ve worked hard on my tackle technique. It is something that I needed to clean up and I’ve given myself a good chance of not having that same issue again.
‘The motivation was to be back in the squad, training this week and potentially playing next week. Over the last six weeks, it wasn’t at the back of my mind, it was at the forefront of my mind. It was probably my sole motivator.’
Hartley is ‘fairly confident’ he will be in the right physical state to cope with the intensity and ferocity of ‘ Le Crunch’ against France at Twickenham on February 4, despite a chronic lack of game-time.
His view is that the captaincy has enhanced his preparatory work, while experience in the role means he is better now than when he was appointed a year ago.
Jones is sure that is right. ‘ You need people to make decisions and ultimately when you have a number of people contributing to a decision, you need one person to make a decision,’ he said.
‘We had an incident yesterday where a player missed something he shouldn’t have missed and it was up to the senior players to discipline him. When you have a strong captain, you know that’s going to happen straight away. Dylan’s a strong captain.’
Having discussed his own injury, Jones eventually went through the more familiar routine of issuing medical updates on his players.
James Haskell and Jack Clifford joined up belatedly with the squad in the Algarve last night and, in principle, remain in consideration to face the French. In reality it is highly unlikely that Haskell will be included in the match- day 23, having played for less than an hour since toe surgery last summer.
Meanwhile, Jones gave a positive bulletin on Joe Marler, as the Harlequins prop recovers from a broken leg.
‘He’s flying,’ said the head coach. ‘He’ll go close to the money.’