Abuse of Eddie Jones may prove blessing in disguise for rugby | Robert Kitson

England’s head coach wonders whether the jingoistic sentiment expressed before the Calcutta Cup fixture contributed to Sunday’s ‘disgusting’ treatment

Social media, when Eddie Jones started coaching in the 1990s, meant a post-match beer with the bloke from the Sydney Morning Herald. Twitter was something that galahs did in the morning and when he graduated in 2001 to the position of Wallaby head coach precisely no one asked for a selfie. Phones were for talking to people, not pointing at celebrities.

Fast forward to 2018 and the grim video snapshot of modern British life filmed in Manchester last Sunday. There is Jones, doing the decent thing and posing for a swift photo before heading to Old Trafford to meet up with Sir Alex Ferguson. And then, all of a sudden, there he is surrounded by four increasingly aggressive strangers, taunting him about England’s Calcutta Cup defeat. Regardless of your nationality or sporting preference, the footage makes depressing viewing.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian http://ift.tt/2GUkdRz