Bath owner hits back at England head coach Eddie Jones for his ‘cynical’ and ‘inappropriate’ comments

A club vs country storm is brewing ahead of tour to South Africa

Jones lashed out at criticism of his training methods this week (Getty)

Bath owner Bruce Craig has accused England head coach Eddie Jones of making “cynical” and “inappropriate” remarks on player welfare.

Jones and his England squad will depart for a three-Test South Africa tour on Saturday with club versus country storm clouds continuing to gather.

The number of casualties sustained during England training camps under Jones rose to 15 when Worcester centre Ben Te’o became the latest victim, with thigh surgery sidelining him from the South Africa trip.

Of those to have suffered, five are from Bath including prop Beno Obano, who has been sidelined for up to a year with a serious knee and hamstring issue.

Obano’s setback prompted Craig to complain that the quantity of injuries is “totally unacceptable” and stated “there has got to be significant questions asked about duty of care”, adding “what is going on in the camp?”

Jones, though, was scathing when Craig’s initial comments were put to him this week.

“I don’t have any concerns,” Jones said. “We train appropriately for Test match rugby. I don’t think anyone at a club has the right to tell a coach how to train a Test team. Bruce is obviously an expert in training-ground injuries, so I’ll have to be subservient to his greater knowledge.”

But Craig has not backed down, telling the Daily Telegraph on Friday: “Mr Jones’s cynical remarks on an important player welfare issue are inappropriate.

“If his judgement that 15 serious injuries in England training and a career-ending injury for (Wasps flanker) Sam Jones is acceptable and doesn’t warrant explanation, apology or some deeper analysis, then that is the problem.

“The matter will be taken to the next Professional Game Board and the clubs will have input on what is acceptable in the context of our players’ complete workload throughout the year on club and international duty.

Ben Te'o will not feature during the tour of South Africa (Getty Images)

“England training camps are not isolated in our players’ conditioning, fitness and well-being throughout the year.

“Mr Jones also seems to be overlooking the fact that the players are not centrally contracted by the Rugby Football Union and are being released in good faith to England on the understanding that the clubs feel they will be treated reasonably and with due duty of care.”

Jones, meanwhile, has been told by Premiership Rugby boss Mark McCafferty that the relationship between club and country has “hit a roadblock”.

McCafferty insists the matter will be raised at this month’s Professional Game Board meeting, which is attended by Premiership Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Players’ Association.

“Are we concerned about injuries happening in England training? Yes, and it’s the same for club training,” McCafferty said. “The only way that the English system works is through collaboration. I wouldn’t expect a club to say that an English coach has no right to come into our club and see what we’re doing.

“Everything up to this point has been very collaborative. We’ve hit a roadblock. We’ve got to see how significant that roadblock is and find a way around it. We should be able to start bringing those injury rates down in training.

“The body that is charged with doing that is the Professional Game Board. It will meet again in June and that will be one of the top items to be discussed there.”