It’s fair to say the knives are out for Eddie Jones among the English punditry after their late ‘defeat from the jaws of victory’ show against Scotland.
Former England fly-half Danny CIpriani, who famously doesn’t get on with the Aussie, is the latest to have his say.
“If Smith had been given the chance to finish the match, I think England would have won,” wrote Cipriani in his column for the Mail Online.
“The whole complexion of the weekend would be very different and nobody would be here now questioning trust or belief.
“Smith had scored all of England’s points and was having a growing influence on the team before he was replaced by George Ford. He was just starting to get a foothold in the match and find his flow. He’d spent a good hour building towards that sweet spot.
“Maybe it was pre-meditated or maybe it was an emotional decision because Smith had just missed a kick to touch. Whatever Jones’s reasoning, it didn’t seem like a decision that was in line with the way the game was going.
“There’s no chance Gregor Townsend would have taken off Finn Russell in that position.”
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5 PLAYERS BLACKLISTED BY EDDIE JONES
#1. Danny Care
Former England start Kyran Bracken was the first person to reveal why the Quins playmaker was mysteriously frozen out of Jones plans in 2018 despite being a regular up until that point.
“He (Care) made the mistake of speaking his mind to Eddie Jones and questioning how he wanted him to play when he was playing with an England ‘B’ team against Japan in the autumn of 2018,” revealed the former England scrum-half.
“Eddie’s response to that was ‘that’s not the attitude I want’ and he binned him from his plans.”
This story was later backed up by England and Harlequins teammate Mike Brown in his column for the Mail Online with Care confirming he’s been blacklisted
DID YOU KNOW? At age 11 he was invited to join the Academy at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club which meant giving up club rugby union for a few years