Eddie Jones’ use of the example of 18 year old tennis star Emma Raducanu, when pointing out the pitfalls of fame for 22 year old England fly half Marcus Smith, was ill advised and ill informed.
“There’s a reason why the young girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards,” claimed Jones.
Why Jones felt the need to single out Raducanu, who won the US Open title despite having never played a match previously on the women’s tour, a phenomenal achievement, is baffling.
I get the sentiment that Smith needs to keep his feet on the ground in the face of the praise and adulation he is currently receiving (deservedly so after his second half cameo against Tonga), but the young Quins fly half has, to my knowledge, shown no signs of complacency and I suspect that what Jones was really trying to do here was prepare the ground for Owen Farrell to be selected ahead of Smith against Australia.
For Jones to drag the reputation of a teenage girl through the dirt just to make his point about Smith, however, was crass and wholly unnecessary.
The comments may or may not have been sexist, but they were certainly Inappropriate and Jones ought to apologise.
