Bill Sweeney, the chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, asserts that England players informed him that it was the “correct decision” to dismiss Eddie Jones as head coach nine months before the World Cup.
Sweeney stated that those he spoke with privately backed the decision to remove Jones from his position after seven years in the role. However, no members of the England squad have publicly supported the decision to dismiss Jones from his position.
Courtney Lawes, who missed the disastrous autumn campaign due to injury after captaining England on the summer tour of Australia. Stated that he was not consulted and was unaware of any other players who had been. The captain for the fall, Owen Farrell, had already described Jones’ departure as “unbelievably disappointing”. Adding, “I don’t believe it has come from the players.”
Lewis Ludlam was among those who voiced their opinions, stating, “I don’t necessarily agree that it was the right decision” to dismiss Jones, who stated that he had received thank-you messages from “at least 50 players” he had selected for England.
England players told RFU chief dismissing Jones was “correct decision.”
Sweeney stated on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, “I spoke to a lot of players. As did Conor [O’Shea, the RFU’s director of performance rugby]. The talks I had, without naming players because I don’t believe it would be fair or acceptable, were disappointed by Eddie’s departure. But they had a genuine understanding of and support for the decision.
“The ones I spoke with said, ‘Look, we’re unhappy for Eddie, we like Eddie. But we understand why the decision was made’. And, without identifying specific people, they added, ‘we believe it was the correct decision’. In terms of the necessary changes to be in a stronger position into 2023.
“One of them told me, ‘I was misquoted in the media because I said I was disappointed for Eddie but not the RFU’s decision’. Yet it was reported that I was disappointed with the decision. Thus, everybody with whom I spoke understood the issue in its entirety.”
Expanding on the decision to fire Jones and replace him with Steve Borthwick. Sweeney disputed that the booing heard at Twickenham in November following the humiliating loss to South Africa played a role in the decision.
He stated, “Some things weren’t quite clicking, weren’t operating the way we all believed they would work. And presumably the way Eddie believed they would work.
Following the study, we concluded that several adjustments were necessary that Eddie was unable to implement due to his term in the position.
“You can feel the fans’ anger. Nobody wants to hear booing at Twickenham after a match against South Africa. But that wouldn’t be a justification to remove the head coach; other considerations would.”
