Thank goodness Jones isn’t the Scotland coach
Eddie Jones is not a man who shies away from making controversial comments.
The latest target to come in for criticism from the England coach was the education system – in particular, the private education system.
Jones claimed that these schools produced players who lived a “closeted life” and “lacked resolve”.
He went on to suggest that the system created players who struggled to lead because everything was done for them.
The coach was rebuked by the CEO of the RFU, Bill Sweeney, who stated that the independent schools sector played a “valued role” in English rugby.
Jones’s comments also attracted criticism from Sir Clive Woodward, England’s World Cup-winning coach, who called the comments “insulting, divisive and disrespectful”.
As someone who was a beneficiary of an education in the private sector, I would disagree with the Australian’s comments.
But I would agree that there are times when the modern professional rugby player does have a lot done for them, and that this could be a factor in their absence of leadership.
That is caused by their environment, not their education.
The game is a beneficiary of the independent education system, particularly in Scotland.
Many of the current Scottish team have also been students in the private sector – not least because sport plays an integral part of these school’s curricula.
That’s something which cannot be said of the state school system in Scotland. From my time on the board of sportscotland, I am only too well aware of the challenges of integrating physical activity into the curriculum in the state sector.
That undoubtedly means that the likelihood of players coming through that system is lower than in the independent sector.
For once, however, I am going to agree with Sir Clive Woodward.
Rugby should be an inclusive game, and a player’s educational background should not matter one iota.
Leaders can emerge from the most unlikely sources.
Jim Aitken, captain of Scotland’s second Grand Slam-winning team, underachieved while at school, but clearly had great leadership characteristics.
Greig Laidlaw, Scotland’s most-capped captain, was a product of Jedburgh Grammar – a state-run school.
In the Grand Slamwinning side of 1990, there were players from all sorts of different educational backgrounds. Yet no one cared about that.
What was important was that each and every player knew their individual and collective roles, and were united in their purpose – which ultimately became winning a Grand Slam.
In Scotland, the independent school sector nurtures rugby talent, offering opportunities to some of the up-and-coming players.
In the absence of other pathways through the club or state school system, this has to be cherished and preserved.
Fortunately, no one is knocking the independent sector in Scotland.
We just have to be grateful that Eddie Jones isn’t the Scotland coach.