Former England head coach Eddie Jones has accused the RFU of interfering with Steve Borthwick's team selection after Marcus Smith was picked to face last weekend France.
After impressing for club side Harlequins playmaker Smith was thrown into the England side which was dominated by France during a humiliating 53-10 defeat at Twickenham. England boss Steve Borthwick made a bold move ahead of the France game dropping captain Owen Farrell for the first time since 2015.
Borthwick claimed the move was right for his 'tactical plan' and said he was not to "playing games" or bowing down to outside pressure. However, his predecessor Jones feels that pressure would have been applied by RFU chiefs on Borthwick to make the key decision.
Jones said on his podcast EDDIE: “The selection of Marcus, to me that’s always the political selection. A player has been out of form, hasn’t quite done well at Test level and then he plays one or two club games and he’s a hero.
"The media starts banging on the door, you’ve got to pick him and then the board reacts to that, and ask: ‘Why aren’t you picking him?’ When you’re a young coach at the start of your career you can get influenced by that."
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"I really felt for Marcus in that game. The thing you’ve got in England is the intenseness of the media, which then affects the board, and they start to step in, and that’s when you get problems. Allow the coach to coach.
“The board have a strategic role, but because they feel the pressure they try to get involved in the operational side, and that’s when things get worse. Unless you have strong people around the team that can be a difficulty.”
An RFU spokesperson denied the accusation and told the Daily Telegraph: “Team selection is entirely Steve’s decision as England Head Coach.”
After England's humiliation against France head coach Borthwick has made changes for Saturday's match against Ireland. He dropped Smith bringing in Farrell again while winger Max Malins was swapped for Henry Arundell.
Borthwick has been blamed of “lacking compassion” by former England player Danny Cipriani after ruthlessly dropping 24-year-old Smith ahead of their trip to Dublin. England's match against Ireland is their last Six Nations game ahead of September's Rugby World Cup.
