Eddie Jones has echoed Gareth Southgate’s belief that coaching selections are scrutinised in England to the extent it is like “you’ve committed a crime”.
Southgate made the point ahead of England’s World Cup qualifier with Hungary earlier this month and now Jones has followed suit.
Jones is in the spotlight after naming his squad for next month’s Autumn Nations Series and leaving out some high-profile players.
Saracens trio Billy Vunipola, Jamie George and Mako Vunipola have once again been overlooked, while fly-half George Ford is not included either.
Jones chose to overlook the Saracens trio just 24 hours after they helped the club batter Bath 71-17.
Saracens boss Mark McCall duly said he would be “amazed” if the Vunipola brothers and George were left out again, however they have been.
“If I had any second thoughts we’d have a different squad,” said Jones, when asked if the Bath game had influenced him.
“But it is always difficult. I think Gareth Southgate made a very relevant comment when he was talking about his selection.
“Every time a head coach in England makes a selection it’s like you’ve committed a crime.
“And it’s difficult leaving out those senior players because they’ve been great players, they’ve been loyal and they’ve done well for you.
“But the job of head coach is to make judgements and the judgement is that we need to move on to a World Cup selection process now, and those guys can come back into it.
“I was really pleased the way they played on Sunday and I hope I see more of that, so they give me more headaches in the future.”
Jones has insisted the door is not fully shut on the likes of the Vunipola brothers, but they face a fight to get back into the squad.
“At the moment I feel they need to regenerate and rejuvenate, and they need to add things to their game if they’re going to continue to the next World Cup,” said Jones.
“They understand that and we will see how they progress over the next period of time. The door is not closed to them. The door is open.
“They understand where they need to improve, where they need to tidy up their game, and if they can do that and come back with the right desire, then the opportunity is going to be there for them.”
