‘I’m disappointed’ – Eddie Jones defends his comments on Emma Raducanu
The England rugby head coach has responded to criticism about his words on distractions surrounding Emma Raducanu since the US Open.
Eddie Jones has addressed the response from those that disagreed with what he said about the British teen talent.
He sought to clarify his point ahead of England’s match with Australia this coming weekend.
“The whole point was how difficult it is for young players to cope with distractions,” he told BBC Sport.
“So the point I made was not wrong. I can’t control if it’s taken out of context. There was no criticism of Emma [Raducanu].
“I have sent her a letter just to reinforce that and hopefully we’ll see her at Twickenham shortly (to watch England play).”
Earlier in the week, Jones cited off-court distractions as the main reason Raducanu has struggled since her Slam triumph.
“There’s a reason why the young girl (Raducanu) who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards,” he said in a press conference.
“What have you seen her on – the front page of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar or whatever it is, wearing Christian Dior clothes. All that is a distraction around her.”
Jones received backlash for his remarks from other sporting figures, labelling his comments as “unbelievably unfair” in one case.
“I don’t have any misgivings about what I said,” Jones added on his initial words about Raducanu.
“I am disappointed it was taken out of context, and I would be disappointed if [Raducanu] was upset by it.
“It was deemed as being sexist and that was never the aim of the point.”
Raducanu’s season has ended since the comments were made. She went out of the Upper Austria Linz Ladies to Chinese qualifier Xinyu Wang.
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