Mail Online

Burrell hits out at ‘dictator’ Jones

By Stephen Davies

LUTHER BURRELL has hit back at Eddie Jones’s criticism of public schools and says England aren’t producing leaders because players ‘live in fear’ of their head coach.

Jones caused a storm last week when he said English rugby’s reliance on the public school system produced ‘closeted’ players and no leaders.

But ex-England centre Burrell, who went to a state secondary, says Jones is the problem.‘They live in fear of Eddie. He’s created a dictatorship,’ he said.

EDDIE JONES says English rugby players who are educated privately do not develop enough leadership skills or the ability to deal with adversity. He believes England should blow the system up to try to improve the chances of future success. I was confused by

these comments. It was an odd time to make them.

They came on the back of an Australia series that, while not totally perfect, saw England get back to winning ways. Any series victory in the southern hemisphere is to be applauded, but instead of everyone being positive about that success, people are now looking at the negative side of English rugby because of Eddie’s comments. In that sense, he is deflecting away from himself. I’m not sure why you’d do that.

My view is that leadership does not have to be in your DNA. Some of the best leaders do have it built into them and possess it because they have been in persistently adverse times.

There are some people like that in rugby who are very empowering, but leadership doesn’t have to be something you’re born with.

Eddie has been England head coach for seven years. That’s a long time and long enough for him to have been able to try to create leaders within his group regardless of where the players have been educated or have come from.

I truly believe any person, in whatever organisation, can grow into a leader.

Look at big corporate companies or organisations like the Royal Marines and the Police. They teach their employees to grow into senior roles and to develop as leaders. Why should a rugby team be any different?

Has Eddie been allowing his players to grow into senior roles and to develop as leaders? My honest view is he has not. We have to assume that is the case because, seven years after he became head coach, he is saying there are not enough players in his squad with leadership abilities and the strength to deal with adversity when things go wrong on the pitch.

In my view, part of the reason for that is that the England team is constantly changing year on year, not only with a big turnover of players but also coaching staff.

Eddie should be looking at himself and the environment he creates with England for why his players might lack leadership.

Instead, he is blaming other people and pointing the finger elsewhere, in this case at the private education system. I don’t think that’s totally fair.

If you look at English rugby down the years, the World Cup-winning class of 2003 had brilliant leaders in the likes of Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jonny Wilkinson and Will Greenwood. Many of those guys and others from that era went to private school.

But since then, rugby has changed completely. The game now is far more strategic and far less barbaric. Rugby in 2022 is about problem solving as you go.

I’m not sure England have the players to do that. In my opinion, that’s because the environment created by Eddie isn’t right. It is a dictatorship.

That is how I felt when I was part of Eddie’s set-up. I’m not sure what things are like now, but my experience is of a dictatorship where you are just told what to do.

That sort of environment doesn’t allow the players within it to grow and make wrong decisions, which is crucial.

No one wants to make a wrong decision, but rugby is never going to be a smooth process. The ability to make mistakes, learn from them and then correct them the next time around is crucial to the growth and development of both a player and the team as a whole.

I’m not sure England’s players feel they can do that. They’re worried about making errors which could lead to them being dropped. They live in fear of Eddie.

So too do his assistant coaches. That much is clear by the huge number who have worked in the England set-up under him and then moved on.

Eddie and England must look to allow the players to grow as individuals to achieve success. Where they were educated doesn’t matter in that process.

The best leader I played under was Dylan Hartley. He understood what it took to get the job done and empowered those around him both with Northampton and England. Part of the reason he was good at that, in my opinion, was because of his background in arriving in England from New Zealand, where he didn’t come from much. Dylan had to make it work to be successful and he did that.

But a player is capable of growing into the sort of character Dylan was regardless of their background and education.

To use my personal experience, I was educated at All Saints Catholic College in Huddersfield, a state school. I didn’t have it easy growing up. The fight has always been my friend. I’m in familiar territory when I’m on the back foot and I do think that has been good for my career as a rugby player.

But my experiences don’t necessarily mean I’m better in adversity and a better leader than someone who came through a private system and had no family worries growing up.

I do think English rugby can make better use of the state school system and ensure more players from less privileged backgrounds come through.

What you can’t deny is that English rugby has traditionally

been a sport for the upper class and

I’m not sure England have the players to problem solve as they go

They worry about errors ... being dropped, and they live in fear of Eddie

what I’d like to do in the years to come is try and change that.

At the moment, I don’t have a contract for the new season and I’m doing some work on a business plan which will involve rugby, schools and clubs in the north of England.

I’m passionate about finding the next generation of talent in the area I’m from. I want them to experience what I’ve experienced and everything rugby has to offer.

The other day I was speaking to a guy who said he thought you had to be posh and have money to play rugby. That is not the case, but that is the mindset many young rugby hopefuls have because of the traditional, elitist system which has dominated the English game.

We need to work to change that mindset. I’m certain we’re losing a

lot of players because of it. If players like myself and Kyle Eastmond can come out of the areas where we grew up to become professional rugby players, then so can others.

The state and private school systems must work together to bring through English talent. With a national system that encourages leaders’ development, the future can be bright.

Championship

en-gb

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/284210879396739

dmg media (UK)