Coach Eddie Jones rang an England prospect, told him he was “fat and lazy” and then hung up.

In a wide-ranging interview on the ‘RugbyPass Offload’ podcast, Zach Mercer revealed that his first interaction with the England boss took a surprising turn, with Jones telling the former Bath No 8 “you effing don’t look like you want to play for England”.

The 24-year-old, now at Montpellier, said: “I remember the first phone call I had with him. He actually rang me and goes, ‘Mate, Eddie here,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, hi’.

“I wasn’t playing for Bath that long. And he was like: ‘Mate. Do you want to play for England?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah.’ And Eddie goes: ‘Well you effing don’t look like you want to play for England. You’re fat, you’re lazy.’ I was like ‘Oh, my god’ and go ‘Yeah,’ and the phone call’s done. That’s it. It’s over.

“I think he respects me a lot more that I took this opportunity and have gone to France because I wanted to develop my game. I think he looks at me slightly differently than he did before.

“I really enjoy speaking to Eddie when I get the opportunity. He tells me how it is and he doesn’t beat around the bush. I would love to play under him again at some point.”