England’s run of serious training injuries is about more than bad luck | Robert Kitson

Oct 06, 2016

After the injuries to Sam Jones and Anthony Watson, it seems players are beginning to buckle under the demands placed on them by club and country

As Eddie Jones is discovering, there is no such thing as a mellow autumn for an England coach. His predecessors Martin Johnson and Stuart Lancaster often had to scrape bits of their squads off the floor before the November internationals and history is starting to repeat itself.

Already Manu Tuilagi, James Haskell, Sam Jones and now Anthony Watson are out of contention, with Owen Farrell, Dylan Hartley and Ben Te’o yet to prove their fitness and the first two rounds of the European Champions’ Cup still to come. So far so normal. The difference this time, however, is that an increasing amount of the damage is self-inflicted, both on the training pitch in Brighton and the judo mat.

Tags: Autumn internationals Eddie Jones England rugby union team Rugby union Sport