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Home / Sport / League

Rugby league is not skilful - Jones

Herald online
9 Jun, 2016 02:47 AM2 mins to read

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All Blacks coach Steve Hansen commenting on his liking to rugby league and watching the Warriors.

Rugby league is not a skillful game, it's a game where you hurt people, according to England's rugby coach Eddie Jones.

Jones, the former Wallabies coach now coaching their oldest rivals, was brutal in his assessment of the rival code when quizzed about his thoughts of Sam Burgess's failed experiment in playing rugby union.

Burgess famously walked away from the Rabbitohs after leading them to their first premiership since 1971 to play for England at the World Cup. However, despite making the team, he was blamed by many fans for the team's poor showing at their home tournament - when they bombed out in the group stage.

Jones didn't hold back in both his assessment of rugby league, or one of the game's superstars.

'Burgess was a non-event in England's confused strategy at the World Cup but he would have been an excellent Test player if he'd had the will to stick at it.' Jones told the Brisbane Courier Mail

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'Rugby league is not a skillful game, it's a game where you've go to hurt people.'

Burgess was apart of a team that holds the unenviable record of recording the worst result by a home nation in the History of the World Cup.

This made Burgess an obvious scapegoat and ultimately, Burgess returned to the game that made him a household name.

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Burgess returned to play for Souths in the NRL for the 2016 season.

So Jones's stinging comments on Burgess and his attack on rugby league come as a bit of a surprise considering the skillful forward has been back in rugby league for over six months.

Although Jones attacked Burgess, he also paid the 27-year-old an underhanded compliment saying he would of been a great rugby player if only he would of stuck at it.

Jones' comments come on the back of another rugby league convert Ben Teo being on the verge of making a shock England debut against the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

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Teo also left the Rabbitohs after the 2014 NRL grand final to join English rugby club Leinster.

He had also previously played in the NRL for the Wests Tigers and the Brisbane Broncos.

-Daily Mail

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