Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Jones fears England's Sarries stars may focus on keeping club up

Written by 
Published in Rugby
Monday, 18 November 2019 06:00

England head coach Eddie Jones fears some Saracens players could skip the Six Nations campaign to help their club avoid relegation after a 35-point deduction for salary cap breaches.

The deduction leaves the Premiership champions bottom of the table. They have also been fined £5.3m.

Sarries supplied six of the team who started for England in the 32-12 defeat to South Africa in the World Cup final.

"It could have a significant impact," Jones told BBC Sport.

"It's something we need to weigh up and look at very carefully."

Saracens have decided not to appeal against the punishments imposed upon them for infringements over the past three seasons so go from third place to bottom of the Premiership on -22 points, 26 behind second-bottom Leicester.

Jones selected six of their players for the final in Yokohama, led by captain Owen Farrell. The others were Mako and Billy Vunipola, hooker Jamie George, second-row Maro Itoje and full-back Elliott Daly, who is yet to play for the club after his summer move from Wasps.

"Obviously there may be some dislocation between Saracens players and the rest of the clubs," said Jones, who was Saracens' director of rugby in 2008/09. "That's a reality.

"So we may have to work to mend those relationships a bit harder, and there might be some Saracens players who feel like they've got to play for their club instead of their country, to make sure they don't go down. So we'll weigh all those up as they come about."

'I didn't realise how strong the class structure was'

Ensuring any issues between Saracens players and the rest of the squad do not do any damage is the latest challenge Jones must face as England coach.

Earlier he told BBC Radio 5 Live that the biggest hurdle he faced when he first took the job in January 2016 was getting to grips with the cultural differences within the group.

"I didn't realise the how strong the class structure was in England, and how that affects the relationships between the players," the Australian said.

"When you look at the England team from the outside it looks like a very homogeneous group but in fact it's very diverse and there probably hasn't been enough understanding of the diversity of the group.

"We spent a lot of time in our World Cup prep making sure we understood the value of diversity."

A report this year revealed that 37% of male British rugby union internationals came from fee-paying schools.

Jones, who hails from a working class suburb of Sydney, was asked whether the difference came down to the stereotypical rugby divide of "posh public schoolboys and state school kids".

"Something like that, yeah," he said.

"If you've got a group of people in here now and you've got five Japanese people, five Australians and five South Africans, they'll tend to congregate together and that's OK if they're not playing as a team.

"But if those 15 are playing as a team then you want that to be completely mixed, and they're the subtle things I was reasonably slow to pick up on."

Read 340 times

Soccer

NL quarterfinal draw: Spain to face Netherlands

NL quarterfinal draw: Spain to face Netherlands

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe draw for the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals was made on Frid...

Premier League injury and suspension news, predicted lineups, fantasy updates

Premier League injury and suspension news, predicted lineups, fantasy updates

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsFind out who is missing through injury, who's in a race against tim...

Premier League changes APT rules after City case

Premier League changes APT rules after City case

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe Premier League has announced changes to its Associated Party Tr...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Pistons' Cunningham exits vs. Hornets after fall

Pistons' Cunningham exits vs. Hornets after fall

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Detroit guard Cade Cunningham left Thursday nigh...

George has bone bruise, to miss at least 2 games

George has bone bruise, to miss at least 2 games

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPhiladelphia 76ers star Paul George has a bone bruise in his left k...

Baseball

Ohtani 'slowly ramping up' in post-surgery rehab

Ohtani 'slowly ramping up' in post-surgery rehab

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsLOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani is in the early stages of rehabbing fr...

City OKs, then reverses $23M to fix Rays' stadium

City OKs, then reverses $23M to fix Rays' stadium

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The St. Petersburg City Council reversed co...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated