Eddie Jones in stern defence of selecting foreign-born players for England after voicing surprise at Willi Heinz 'hoo-ha'

The Australian insists it's not his job to determine how players are selected after including two New Zealand-born players in his training camp in Brighton

Willi Heinz's inclusion in the England training squad caused controversy due to his New Zealand roots (Getty)

Eddie Jones launched a stern defence of his decision to bring in New Zealand-born Willi Heinz to his pre-Argentina tour training squad by insisting he will continue to pick any player eligible to play for England, regardless of how questionable their allegiance to the country is.

The Australian Jones caused a stir when he added both the Gloucester scrum-half Heinz – who has an English grandmother – and Bristol back Jason Woodward, born in New Zealand but with English ancestry, in his enlarged squad that gathered in Brighton on Tuesday to start a three-day training camp.

After stressing his surprise at what he described as “the hoo-ha” that arose from his selections, Jones insisted that anyone who has an issue with his selections should take it up with the powers that be above him at the Rugby Football Union and World Rugby, not him.

“I don’t control who qualifies and who doesn’t,” said Jones. “It’s not my job. You’re talking to the wrong person. My job is to pick players who qualify to play for England.

“If you have a problem with how they qualify speak to the people who make those rules because I don’t.

“Every player who is qualified to play for England has an opportunity to play for England. I select them and if they don’t want to play they say no. Everyone has a choice. They either want to play for England or they don’t and they show that by the way they train and the way they behave.”

After naming a 31-man squad that will tour Argentina next month while 15 English players take on the All Blacks with the British and Irish Lions, Jones decided to bring in 14 players for the Brighton training camp given that he cannot call on any players that will be playing in this weekend’s Premiership semi-finals, nor in Northampton Saints’ European Champions Cup play-off clash against Connacht.

That led to the inclusion of Heinz, a 30-year-old who has not only failed to publicly declare any desire to play for England, but has also played against them during the 2014 tour of New Zealand while representing Super Rugby side the Crusaders. It raises the question of whether having too many foreign-born players in the squad can alter the see-saw of those who grew up wanting to play for England rather than other countries, given Jones already has the likes of Nathan Hughes and the Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy, already in the squad.

“The point you’re making is right but we do that all the time in terms of selection,” Jones said of finding the right balance. “I’ve been surprised about the hoo-hah about this training camp. We’re missing 15 Lions, we’re missing Saracens, Exeter, Wasps, Tigers, Northampton…who do you expect me to pick? Seriously?”

That again prompted questions of Jones as to why he has not looked to bring in the England fringe players that he controversially left out of the upcoming tour, though Jones offered his biggest clue yet as to why he chose to leave them out of the squad.

“I think it’s been excellent,” he said of the angry reaction. “That’s how I want it to be. If those players were so desperate to get picked, they should have been playing the house down for their clubs and they haven’t been. The reaction; that they are upset and their clubs are upset – well I hope they’re upset and I hope I see better from them. I hope they use this summer to prove me wrong.”

First up on Jones’s agenda, before the two Tests against the Pumas, is the annual end-of-season game with the Barbarians next weekend, the day after the Premiership final. That means Jones will definitely be without players from two of the four semi-finalists, but he could also be without captain Dylan Hartley if Saints beat Connacht to reach the European Cup play-off final, raising the prospect of a new captain being required.

Jones stressed he'll call up any players eligible for England regardless of where they were (Getty)

George Ford, Danny Care and Mike Brown have all been chosen as designated vice-captains for the tour, but Jones has not yet decided who his go-to man will be in Hartley’s absence.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea,” he said. “There are a couple of guys, I just need to see how they come into camp. We’re dealing with some blokes who are disappointed about missing out on the Lions, so how they come into camp and how they perform will give an indication of who I push forward to be a leader. There are probably five guys who are grossly disappointed about not being with the Lions.”