At this point, very few people give too much credence to the opinions put forth by Stephen Jones when it comes to top level rugby. The Welshman continues to produce some downright claims on the sport, many of which can rub supporters up the wrong way.
He seems to have a particular issue when it comes to Ireland.
Jones has made various bizarre comments about Irish teams down through the years. Most recently he downplayed their big victory over France earlier this season, then going on to include more French than Irish in his team of the tournament.
As a result, quite a few people will likely be taking pleasure in the reaction to one of his articles that was published over the weekend.
The Times deleted Stephen Jones article on rugby sevens
On Sunday, Stephen Jones published an article in the The Times which hammered the state of sevens rugby.
To get his point across, he gave the example of the lack of success of the London 7s this year. In the article, he said that attendances were hugely disappointing at the event which took place over the weekend and said it was an example of why this code was not a serious sporting competition.
The only issue is that the London Sevens weren't on over the weekend. In fact, they are not taking place until later this week.
That's right, Jones completely hammered an event that hasn't even taken place yet.
We’re blocked.
But someone needs to tell Stephen Jones that the London 7s are next weekend.
“Yesterday at Twickenham, nearly 50,000 were expected for the London leg”
He’s written a whole article about an event that hasn’t even happened yet… pic.twitter.com/mGBCcIEh3d— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) May 14, 2023
The article would soon be deleted from the website of The Times.
Here's how it opened:
Is sevens a little like Eurovision? Gaudy and fun, not to be taken too seriously?
Yesterday at Twickenham, nearly 50,000 were expected for the London leg of the HSBC World Sevens series. What is more, Twickenham say they expect 25,000 to attend today for the finals.
There may be a clue to the direction of sevens that double the number apparently chose the day of the qualification rounds to attend rather than the higher-octane knockout stage on a day which includes the finals at all levels of the event.
The clue leads to the conclusion that the whole two-day event, taken seriously of course by the competing national sevens teams, is regarded by others as what in impolite circles is called a piss-up, with the competing attractions of beer and burgers equally enticing, if not more so, than the competition. So to go on Saturday means you a have a day to recover before work.
Jones would go on to hammer the state of rugby sevens as a whole over the course of the piece.
Never one to miss an opportunity to have a dig at Ireland, he also included a couple of backhanded comments about the Irish men's and women's teams.
In the article, he laments the fact that Great Britain are only around as good as Ireland in both codes.
And Great Britain? Rather feeble. The Great Britain men lie tenth in the standings, one point above Ireland, a nation that has traditionally made France look like a passionate advocate of the shorter game.
The women’s team lie in seventh place, again below Ireland, after what has been a disappointing campaign this season. The two GB teams cannot attract the high-end professional players, they are otherwise engaged, and under contract.
In all, people took quite a bit of pleasure from reading this article.
Stephen Jones writing about how crap the London Sevens was yesterday when it’s not until next week is absolute PEAK SJ. It’s perfect. Award winning.
— Not A-P (@rugby_ap) May 14, 2023
Dear @thetimes
Could you please explain how Stephen Jones has been allowed to publish a fake article about an event that hasn’t happened yet? Is this the standard we should expect from your journalists? Printing complete lies from someone who is so far removed from reality? pic.twitter.com/7QdF1iy61e— Oli Wainwright (@OliWainwright) May 14, 2023
@stephenjones9 and a pal arriving at the London sevens tournament yesterday pic.twitter.com/oUsNNV2ANj
— Mike McLoughlin (@zuroph) May 14, 2023
For clarification, it was actually the Army vs Navy match at Twickenham yesterday. https://t.co/b7zaIwnWoH
— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) May 14, 2023
We're already looking forward to reading his takedown of Ireland's performance at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, expected to be published sometime around mid-August.
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