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RA chairman wades in on Jones aggro as fan arrested in separate incident
By PA
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has slammed the behaviour of a set of Wallabies fans who were involved in ugly confrontations with England head coach Eddie Jones.
Jones was at the centre of at least two confrontations with fans after being called a “traitor” at Saturday’s 21-17 victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Footage posted on social media shows Jones being baited in two separate incidents on the night England completed a series victory.
In one clip a man wearing a Wallabies cap and holding a pint of beer points a finger at Jones as he walks on to the pitch and says twice “you’re a traitor”, provoking a furious reaction.
Jones stalks over to the stand and replies “come here and say it” three times, causing the surprised fan to back off, and is then ushered away by a member of the ground’s security staff.
The security guard can be heard saying to the fan “I have spoken to you before”.
In another incident that takes place as he walks through the members area of the SCG, Jones is called a traitor once again and this time he replies “what did you say you f****** idiot. Go and f*** yourself mate.”
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan condemned the conduct of the supporter, while the Rugby Football Union has declined to comment at this stage.
“That fan’s behaviour is totally unacceptable and is not welcome at a Wallabies Test if he carries on like that,” McLennan said.
“We should be acknowledging Eddie’s achievements as a great Aussie export. There’s too much tall poppy syndrome in that comment.”
Meanwhile, police have charged a fan for urinating off the side of the roof of the SCG’s O’Reilly Stand.
Former Wallabies great Matt Giteau defended Jones, saying: "Don’t rate that supposed fan getting into Eddie Jones. It’s a poor look. I, as a proud wallaby & Australian , don’t think for one second Eddie is a traitor. He is a proud Aussie that happens to coach another national team that isn’t us. This is sport nowadays."
Former Scotland second row Jim Hamilton wrote: "Just off the back of the Eddie Jones videos. I have seen a huge shift in Rugby fans over last few years. Swearing and abusing referees during the match. Abuse on twitter. #rugbyvalues and all that shite, it’s gone. Values in any walk of life seem to have gone. 2022. It’s sad."
It is understood that Jones, an Australian who coached the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, was subjected to hostile abuse when walking to and from the coach’s box with the layout at the SCG meaning he had to pass through sections of the home crowd.
“Clowns think they have full go to abuse coaches,” Jones told the Sydney Morning Herald when asked about the incident.
Jones’ experience of abuse from fans is not limited to Australia, however.
On the 2018 tour to South Africa, he hit back at spectators at Ellis Park in a heated tunnel confrontation, standing his ground for 10 to 15 seconds before being taken away by players and staff.
Earlier that same year, he was physically and verbally abused by Scotland supporters in Manchester and when catching a train to London in the wake of a 25-15 defeat at Murrayfield.
The incidents were investigated by British Transport Police and Jones vowed to not use public transport again.
PA, additional reporting RugbyPass
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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