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Jones puts pressure on Saturday's referee Pascal Gauzere after England's stuttering Italian job with the Frenchman in charge
Eddie Jones is never shy of stirring the pot ahead of an England international and aside from describing the Ireland side that is coming to Twickenham as a United Nations XV, he has also put some heat on Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup referee Pascal Gauzere.
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The Frenchman was an assistant referee last week in Dublin when Ireland got their campaign off to a winning start against Wales. He now takes over the whistle from Mathieu Raynal, who will be an assistant along with Alexandre Ruiz in London.
Ireland enjoyed dominance at the breakdown and in the scrum against the Welsh, winning a number of penalties, but Jones has moved to plant a seed in the French official’s mind by mentioning the need for the referee to be strong when adjudicating those two key areas where the Irish excelled last Friday.
“The scrum contest is always challenging against Ireland,” said Jones, whose team have so far clinched the Six Nations title with a win over Italy and beaten Georgia in round one of the Nations Cup since they resumed playing.
“We have got a referee on the weekend who generally doesn’t reward the dominant scrum so it will be interesting to see how he looks at that area. We’ll need to be adaptable to his calls on it.
Well, this was awkward… #AutumnNationsCup #Rugby #ENGvIREhttps://t.co/lac4yHp0bs
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 20, 2020
Gauzere was in charge of that October 31 win over the Italians in Rome but it wasn’t all plain sailing for England as the penalty count was 13-all and it wasn’t until the closing stages that they pulled away on the scoreboard. England managed to win three scrum penalties off Italy but they were penalised on five occasions at the ruck, twice at the lineout, twice more at the maul, with the rest being on-the-ground infringements. A dozen of those penalties were against forwards.
Gauzere’s previous England appointment prior to Rome was the narrow February win over Scotland. “There is no use scrummaging if you can’t get a result out of it. But they [Ireland] have got a good scrum. (Cian) Healy has played 100 caps at loosehead so he has got to be hugely respected,” he continued before giving his opinion on Ireland tighthead Andrew Porter.
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“He has done really well. He has taken to Test rugby well, scrums in a fairly unusual way which may need some referee intervention so we’ll wait and see. I’ll leave that up to the referee.”
Jones also made mention of the French ref when teeing up the battle of the back rows, England’s Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Billy Vunipola up against Ireland’s CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony and Caelan Doris. “They [Ireland] are the best poaching team in Europe, the highest poaching team in Europe. Guys like CJ Stander and Peter O’Mahony, they are both really good at the contest. We have got a referee that favours the contest, so that is going to be a real battle.
“It’s a different Irish side. We are not sure what they are going to bring to the table. They have picked a heavy back row. Normally they pick more of a fetcher in there so that may allude to how they are going to play. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
75 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments