Fast Eddie Jones enters the class war

PLUS: Serena fully retires, while Trent Boult semi-retires and the BYC is here for it.

The professionalisation of schoolboy rugby has thrown a light on great traditions and talent but has had negative downstream effects too. Photo / Getty Images

There’s a bit going on!

Trent Boult semi-retires and I’m mostly fine with that.

LIV golfers had a very bad day in court.

Serena Williams has fully retired and Eddie Jones has been accused of picking on poor little rich schools.

I want to focus on the Jones’ furore because it is an issue that has parallels with rugby in New Zealand.

England coach Jones said that the private school system, where rugby has traditionally been strong in England, produces “cosseted players” who “lack resolve” when things are going poorly.

He has been rebuked for those comments by, among others, Clive Woodward, who was educated by the Royal Navy on the HMS Conway, a stone frigate “school ship” in the north of Wales.

I’m not sure there’s a lot of merit to Jones’ outburst, which could be painted as an upstart Ocker taking a stab at the British ruling class, but it did pique my interest because of my unscientific belief that the rise and rise of independent fee-paying schools in the 1st XV scene has had a deleterious effect on New Zealand rugby¹.

Not because it produces cosseted players who lack resolve, but because of the Laws of Unintended Consequences.

The argument is a lot more nuanced than I can sum up here, but I’ll give it the condensed summary.