England head coach Eddie Jones set for showdown talks with Aviva Premiership clubs
Sunday 9 October 2016 21:32, UK
England head coach Eddie Jones will hold showdown talks with the 12 Aviva Premiership directors of rugby this week after a national team training camp in Brighton sparked outrage.
Jones has been criticised after Sam Jones and Anthony Watson suffered serious injuries during the camp, ruling them out of the autumn international series and a significant portion of the domestic season.
Wasps' Jones broke his right leg and suffered ankle damage during a judo session and the flanker is out for five months, while Bath's Watson sustained a broken jaw during a full-bore training session last Tuesday.
Exeter have also claimed that England told them Jack Nowell only had a minor injury but a subsequent club scan revealed a "nine-to-10 centimetre" tear in his thigh.
Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter, who will attend the meeting on Thursday alongside his 11 counterparts, officials from Premiership Rugby and the RFU, and England boss Jones, described the revelation as "disappointing" while Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said the timing of the get together was "flabbergasting".
Premiership Rugby released a statement on Friday that questioned "player welfare" and said: "England should not be doing full training sessions straight after a Premiership weekend."
The RFU leapt to the defence of Jones, insisting the heavy sessions are written into the professional game agreement, and Wasps director of rugby Dai Young insisted all parties should come together to find a resolution.
"This cannot be England against the clubs. We cannot be against each other. We have to be together. There can't be a big brother in this relationship," he said after his side were beaten by Saracens on Sunday.
"They're not more important than us and we're not more important than them. We have to work together and that's the biggest message. The last thing we should do is create a wedge between the national set-up and the clubs.
"Accidents happen and I'm sure we'll review it, and hopefully there will be things we can change and have a view on. We all want a strong national team and we all want strong Premiership teams. It's really important that we all keep working in the same direction.
"This may be a bump in the road, but I'm sure that we can pull together and get things right and move forward."
