Eddie Jones attacks World Rugby over 'Trygate' - but isn't he forgetting something?

England coach Eddie Jones has criticised World Rugby for ‘undermining referees’ following their statement confirming the TMO made an error in disallowing a Welsh fullback Gareth Anscombe’s try on Saturday.

Earlier this week the Wales management team requested a clarification from World Rugby on the decision, who then released a statement confirming they believed the decision to be erroneous.

Jones has now hit back, saying World Rugby are undermining referees by issuing clarifications, many of which have ‘confirmed’ that referees or TMOs have made mistakes; most pointedly Craig Joubert’s decision that saw Scotland dumped out of the World Cup in 2015.

“I just think once the game’s done and dusted that’s the game, you can’t have retrospective refereeing of decisions being done. We’ve got to trust the referees, respect their integrity. When I say respect the referee, that’s the TV process as well, and then you leave it at that.

“One side’s won, one side’s lost.

“In Japan they have a great saying: at full-time there’s no side. That’s one of the traditions of rugby, you get on with it, you respect that decision. If you haven’t got the rub of the green, then you know you probably get it in the next couple of games. I think I have made myself very clear. The TMO did an excellent job.”

Jones may be making a valid point, but valid or not his comments are in direct opposition to his behaviour in the wake of last year’s Six Nations game between England and Italy.

The Italians came close to beating England by using a radical tactic that exploited a loophole – namely, refusing to contest rucks.

“World Rugby are in charge of the shape of the game and I’m sure (chairman) Bill Beaumont will have watched this match and will take some action,” Jones said at the time.

Jones criticised the refereeing of the game and suggested World Rugby address the issue, which they ultimately did.

“Of course it can be solved. It can be easily solved. I could solve it like that. All you need is a tackle offside line. As soon as you make a tackle there’s an offside line.”

“I’ve never seen a referee lose his perspective of the game. That’s the reality of it,” Jones said. “The whole game became a joke. Our halfback goes to pass the ball and (Edoardo) Gori’s there. The whole time he was standing there.

“Our players were definitely shocked. You go to pass the ball and all you see is a blue jumper. We teach the players to look to pass the ball and when you can’t pass the ball then it becomes a different game.

“It is a contest game. We have rucks to have a contest, we have scrums to have a contest.nWe have line-outs to have a contest game. When you take contests out of the game it ceases to be rugby.”

Jones both criticised the referee and the very the rules of rugby, after they were used against his team. Jones should be aware that his valid points could themselves be undermined by less than valid ones from his not so distant past.