Eddie Jones flags 'huger issues' than Etzebeth's 'minor incident' in Bok win

Japan head coach Eddie Jones has described Eben Etzebeth’s apparent eye gouge of Wales’ Alex Mann as “quite a minor incident” in the context of the match, highlighting Wales’ development system as a graver concern in the wake of the game.

A Wales team shorn of their overseas stars suffered a record-breaking 73-0 loss to the world champions on Saturday at the Principality Stadium, offering no competition whatsoever in any department.

Speaking on his Rugby Unity podcast following the result, Jones said that Wales are now “paying the price” for letting their “development system go”.

Due to the match falling outside the Test window, Wales boss Steve Tandy was forced into naming a severely under-strength side. This was particularly apparent on the bench, with the uncapped Cardiff loosehead Danny Southworth and Dragons’ one-cap tighthead Christian Coleman taking on what many view as the most powerful scrummaging unit to have ever played the game.

The gulf in class was quite clear, and Jones fears it is going to be a “tough time for Wales going forward” unless they change something fast.

“In the context of the game, I think it’s quite a minor incident,” Jones said when assessing Etzebeth’s red card.

“It’s not good for Eben, and I’m sure he regrets doing it. It looked intentful, which is not fantastic, but I think there are huger issues coming from the game. Definitely for Wales in terms of how they now fast-track their progress and how they update their development system. That would be the key thing for me.

“They’ve let their development system go quite clearly, and they’re paying the price for it now. The only way they can fix it is to try to shift all the political boundaries that are put on moving and changing the system and get on with it.

“Otherwise, it’s going to be a tough time for Wales going forward. Because the countries that have done it, we’ve seen it with Ireland, Scotland to a lesser extent, and New Zealand consistently, they are able to produce teams that are sustainably successful.

“Wales had a very successful period under Gatland, but at the end it was falling off, and they’re paying the price for it now.”