England to confront Saracens saga in clear-the-air talks – Jones

Eddie Jones will encourage his players to voice their grievances over the Saracens salary-cap scandal when the England squad assembles before the Six Nations.

Rugby World Cup finalists England are due to begin a seven-day training camp in Portugal on Thursday ahead of their clash with France on February 2.

Jones confirmed he would hold clear-the-air talks in a bid to root out any tension stemming from the Sarries’ salary-cap breaches, which resulted in a £5.36million fine and relegation from the Premiership at the end of the 2019-20 season.

Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje were among seven Sarries stars named in a 34-man England squad on Monday.

“We have got to get everything out on the table,” Jones told reporters. “It’s common sense. Say what you feel.

“If players are angry about it then say it. At the end of the day, there are 34 players that all want to play for England. Their job is to get ready to play for England.

“We will help them sort it out. I don’t envisage any problems at all, in fact I think it is an opportunity for the team to get tighter. They wouldn’t be in the squad if they weren’t in the right mindset.”

“It is all about raising the standards”

Eddie Jones looks ahead to the 2020 #GuinnessSixNations #CarryThemHome #WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/kaiMHhIjHB

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) January 20, 2020

Jones admitted the meeting might not reach an easy resolution as England seek to move forward in the aftermath of their World Cup heartbreak against South Africa.

“We are not robots,” he said. “You don’t know how long it is going to take. It could take longer, but we will sort it out.

“We have got players from potentially 12 different clubs – 12 different ideas of what is right and what is wrong.

“We are like a family around the dinner table, someone wants to have pasta for dinner and the other one wants to have rice. They have a debate and that is ongoing in the national team.”

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