New Zealand radio station that made lewd sex joke about England physio criticised by Jamie George

England captain Jamie George has criticised  ‘disgraceful’ sexist comments made by a New Zealand radio station about a member of squad’s medical staff.

The Alternative Commentary Collective (ACC), based in New Zealand, posted a clip on its social media feeds crudely suggesting that an England physio should perform a sex act on George while he was down receiving treatment during the second Test at Eden Park last Saturday.

The post, since deleted, was captioned “forget the magic water how about the magic hand---”. Replies featured further sexist comments, with one suggesting the “entire team on both sides [are] suddenly injured”, to which The ACC account replied with a laughing emoji.

George, who along with playing for Saracens and England owns a chain of physiotherapy businesses, said: “Both the RFU and The Carter & George Practice employ many talented and hard-working female healthcare professionals. It is disappointing that comments like this are still being made.”

John Cowman, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the UK, added that the comments were “disgraceful”.

Cowman said: “These misogynist and sexist comments made against a female member of the medical team working for the England rugby team are beyond unacceptable – they are disgraceful.

“No one should face such online abuse and the comments denigrate the high professional standards that she and other sports medics and physiotherapists uphold. This kind of abuse is still all too common both online and in stadiums and needs to end now.”

Following the backlash, Mike Lane, ACC’s general manager, apologised in a statement.

“We’ve missed the mark on this occasion, and we have removed the social media posts. We apologise to anyone who was offended by the content – it definitely wasn’t our intention to cause any offence,” he said.

ACC’s commentary is only accessible in New Zealand by entering an adult pin-code on Sky Sport and has an 18 rating.

England A to face Australia as RFU ramp up fixtures for second string

England ‘A’ will return in November to face their Australian equivalents as the Rugby Football Union look to establish regular fixtures for their second string team.

The 91-5 victory against Portugal in February was the first fixture in nearly eight years since a pair of wins for the then England ‘Saxons’ against South Africa ‘A’ in 2016. The visit of Australia ‘A’ to the Twickenham Stoop on November 17 should provide a more competitive hit out for England’s second team.

The Rugby Football Union describes the A team as a “platform for players transitioning from the Gallagher Premiership and pathway at U20 level to the senior men’s team”. Harlequins prop Fin Baxter appeared against Portugal and went on to make his senior debut on a highly encouraging tour of New Zealand.

Scrum-half Harry Randall and second-row Charlie Ewels also played against Portugal and then featured against Japan, while Harlequins wing Cadan Murley, who scored a hat-trick, and Northampton flanker Tom Pearson advanced their causes.

Another important feature of the A side is that they are designated as England’s ‘capture’ side. Players who appear for them cannot change their international allegiance in the way that they can if they appear for England Under-20s. Fly-half Fin Smith and wings Tom Roebuck and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso have all been the subject of recent tugs of war that England have won.

England head coach Steve Borthwick will have a large input into the selection of the team while the RFU executive director of performance Conor O’Shea will assemble the coaching team that last time comprised Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington and assistant coaches Dom Waldouck and Sam Vesty.

“We are delighted to confirm this fixture for England A,” O’Shea said. “England A is a great platform for the country’s next best players to showcase what they can do while representing the country. It gives Steve Borthwick and his staff the chance to see players outside of their club environment and the players the opportunity to impress.

“A fixture against an Australia A side will pit our players against really tough opposition, and work continues on to secure more playing time for the A team in the near future. We are looking forward to taking England A to The Stoop for what I’m sure will be a great game of rugby.”