DO you think England rugby union coach Eddie Jones managed to keep a straight face the other week when he told Brisbane Courier Mail that: “Rugby league is not a skilful game, it's a game where you've got to hurt people.”

He cannot have really meant that – he is not that daft or ignorant – so quite a few are guessing about his possible motivation for giving it to the 13-man code in league’s own backyard.

Let’s bear in mind first the timing – with that interview given days before England took on the Wallabies at Brisbane.

Rugby union traditionally fails to capture much in the way of attention Down Under when the NRL and State of Origin is in full flow.

There are some that suggested this was a blatant attempt to poke a stick into the sporting order of league heartlands Brisbane and Sydney ahead of the series.

But I strongly suspect that Jones did not utter those words to sell a few more tickets or to get some column inches, even if that was undoubtedly a consequence.

England have subsequently gone on to win the opening two tests against the hosts and are looking to complete the whitewash in Sydney on Saturday.

Now that is quite a sudden transformation for an England side that last autumn strung together some pathetic performances in the World Cup event they were hosting.

For me Jones’ comments – in which he again raised last autumn’s whipping boy Sam Burgess – were meant for in-house consumption.

England were woeful in last year’s World Cup but the way the national press and some of the fans of union made Burgess the scapegoat was pathetic.

But in a way, for followers of the 15-man code, Burgess was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. The shoddy way in which it was handled showed a confused strategy from start to finish.

In a way was Jones not trying to send a message to aficionados of the union code that their game’s obsession with league that they have had since 1995 is over.

Union has regularly raided league for players and coaches, with the aim of fast-tracking them into the England set up. And for all the sniping, it has largely served them well, particularly in the coaching department.

It does irk some union folk though, especially when players like Andy Farrell, who was playing prop at the back end of his league career, when England lined him up for the centres.

Jason Robinson was a huge success, while others were fast tracked later - including Lesley Vainikolo - while some others have dipped in and out.

Is Jones, with his message, saying that union is no longer in awe of league’s talents?

It is hard to say for certain, especially when this week he had league legend Andrew Johns advising his team in training in Sydney and former Burgess’ former teammate Be Te’o is already in the tour squad.

As for the insults, League fans should just not swallow the bait.