Emma Raducanu will skip an invitation from the Rugby Football Union to attend England's upcoming fixtures against Australia and South Africa, according to the Guardian. The Lions' head coach Eddie Jones has expressed hopes "we'll see her at Twickenham shortly."However, the 61-year-old recently came under extreme scrutiny over comments he made about the Brit's current form on the court.Jones was blasted after discussing Raducanu in a conversation about England fly-half Marcus Smith and the "flood of distractions" that can often come athletes' ways after success.However, in the discussion, Jones did not refer to Raducanu by name and continued to criticise her recent form."The big thing for young players is distractions," he said. "Distractions can be the exposure they get in the media, the praise and criticism they get, groups of agents who see this guy as the next big thing.
"There’s a reason why the girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards. What have you seen her on? The front page of Vogue, the front page of Harper’s Bazaar, whatever it is. Wearing Christian Dior clothes."All those distractions are out there. It mightn’t be to that degree with Marcus, but it could be."Tennis commentator David Law described the England manager's comments as "uninformed, irresponsible, sexist nonsense" in a recent tweet.
Raducanu was asked about the comments following her match against Wang Xinyu at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz but admitted she was unaware of what Jones had said about her.
"I’m not really sure who or what that means. I haven’t followed any of the news. I stay away from that," she told reporters in Linz. "So I’m sorry, I don’t really know what this is about."
England rugby are currently competing in the Autumn Internationals, having already beaten Tonga 69-3.
