O'Neill slams Jones for helping Springboks

SYDNEY: Australian Rugby Union chief John O'Neill lashed out at ex-Wallabies coach Eddie Jones Thursday for helping South Africa in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup.

O'Neill, who returned to rugby this year after a stint heading Australian football, said he could not understand why Jones joined the Springboks for a training camp in Cape Town this week.

"It's not something you would expect of a former Australian coach," O'Neill told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

"He would argue 'I'm a professional' -- I would put a caveat in there that you've got to be a bit more discerning.

"In a sense, it tells you that the game has changed and coaches will take on jobs driven by motives other than loyalty and patriotism."

However, O'Neill dismissed the possibility that Jones' actions could derail the Wallabies, who face a possible clash with Jake White's South Africa in the World Cup quarter finals.

"I don't think it should in any way alarm the Wallabies," he said.

Relations between Australian and South African rugby are still strained after the Springboks sent a second-string side Down Under to contest its final Tri-Nations games, preserving top-line players for the World Cup.

Jones hit back at O'Neill's criticism by questioning the Australian rugby supremo's loyalty to the game when he switched code to become head of the Football Federation Australia.

"It's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black," he told the Telegraph.

AFP

(China Daily 07/27/2007 page24)