'They [Te'o-Brown] weren't the only two players that had differences, there were others...'

One of the biggest stories before England’s World Cup campaign in Japan was the altercation between Ben Te’o and Mike Brown during the team’s warm-weather camp in Italy. 

The centre and full-back were dropped from the squad soon after, and it was widely believed that it was due to their alleged fight. 

However, England head coach Eddie Jones has recently said their omission was because they were not the “right players for the World Cup”. 

Jones said this while speaking specifically about an incident between two members of the England football team, Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez, who clashed when playing for Manchester City and Liverpool respectively at the weekend and were then embroiled in another altercation with the national team. 

Regarding this incident, Sterling has been dropped for England’s next match against Montenegro by manager Gareth Southgate in a similar way that Jones dismissed Te’o and Brown. 

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However, the Australian said that this was not the only occasion before or during the RWC where emotions ran high. 

“It was a matter of us picking the right players for the World Cup. They weren’t the only two players that had differences, there was plenty of other players that had differences, and at the World Cup we had differences.” 

This admission by Jones not only gives an insight into the England camp during the RWC, but sheds yet more light on why the former Worcester Warrior Te’o and Harlequins’ Brown did not go to Japan. 

This may not be all that surprising to many, as a Test rugby environment will always create friction amongst team-mates as they vie for places. 

Jones will hope he does not face those problems this week, as he takes charge of the Barbarians who face Fiji at Twickenham this Saturday. 

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