Jones slams England's Burgess treatment

Jones slams England's Burgess treatment
A lot has been said in the media this week about the possibility of Eddie Jones becoming England's next head coach but the Aussie had lots to say about the RFU's treatment of Sam Burgess during his short stint in union.

The 55-year-old Australian, who steered Japan to three pool victories at the World Cup, told the Guardian: "They definitely weren't focused enough on how to improve Burgess as a player. "You had Bath playing him at 12 and then at No 6 and England wanting to play him at inside centre.

"You have a guy who comes in from Rugby League and you ask him to play in two different positions - How silly is that?"

"No one can play in those two positions, and no other teams in the world of rugby try to do that."

Jones suggested New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams had a smooth transition from league to union because he was managed correctly and given time to prosper.

"Williams clearly had better management from the time he was first introduced to union," Jones added.

"He was coached to be a 12 when he came in at Canterbury [in 2010] and the Crusaders [in 2011] and the All Blacks selected him as an inside centre.

"He filled in at a couple other positions, but predominantly they looked after him well. In contrast, Burgess was never given a fair chance to play in union successfully which is a real shame."


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