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Jones takes swipe at referee Raynal but it's not over the red card

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England boss Eddie Jones has taken a swipe at referee Mathieu Raynal for the way he officiated the scrum in Saturday’s 32-15 Guinness Six Nations defeat to Ireland. Despite the second-minute red-carding of Charlie Ewels and the concession of a penalty at the game’s first scrum, the English pack – which responded to Ewels’ expulsion by shifting Courtney Lawes into the second row and having winger Jack Nowell packing down at flanker – flourished as they went on to win a half-dozen penalties and a free-kick.

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However, Jones took issue with the lack of an advantage being played to allow England to create while he was also miffed that no Ireland prop was yellow carded for the set-piece malaise they had to endure against a home-team eight that also lost Tom Curry to injury and Kyle Sinckler to concussion.

“I am a bit disappointed the ref didn’t allow us to scrum fully,” claimed a frustrated Jones in the aftermath of a match where a defiant England were ultimately stuffed four tries to nil to see their title hopes extinguished heading into next weekend’s round five match away to the Grand Slam-chasing France.

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“That would be my only complaint, and we weren’t allowed to play advantage away from the scrum. We got four scrum penalties and there was no sign of a yellow card. So we want to have a powerful scrum and if World Rugby want to have the scrum in the game they have got to allow strong scrums to dominate. We’re disappointed we didn’t get more out of that.”

Switching to the 82-second Ewels red card for his head-to-head contact with Ireland’s James Ryan and the main injuries worries that England suffered, Jones added: “He [Ewels] is disappointed but no one apportions blame on him.

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“It was a genuine attempt to make a good tackle, his head was just in the wrong spot and we have got no questions about the red card. Sinckler has got concussion, so he will go through all the protocol, and Tom Curry is looking a bit worse for wear. I don’t think he will be starting in the next game.”

Queried on what ex-England coach Clive Woodward had to say about a match that was tied at 15-all on 61 minutes before the powerful Irish bench helped to swing the result in their favour, Jones frostily replied: “I don’t really care what he says, mate, but I am happy to talk about the game.”

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This Jones did, talking up the efforts of the England pack which sounded odd as they had just lost a must-win Test game by 17 points in their own backyard but it also sounded plausible as well as they had to play 78 minutes a man down.

“Great spirit, great tactical discipline. We got to 15-all and there was about 15 to go. We are controlling the game and we just made a couple of mistakes that allowed them into the game, but it is a great learning experience for this team. I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“They are a young team and the older guys like Courtney and (Ellis) Genge and Jamie George led beautifully and the young guys adapted really well and they will learn a lot from it.

“I see that as a foundation game for us where we set out our campaign for the World Cup in 2023. Their spirit, determination, the ability to work through problems was absolutely outstanding.

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“Really good when you consider we lost Sinckler, we lost Curry, we lost Ewels, we have got (Jonny) Hill on the sideline, we have got (Sam) Underhill on the sideline. There is a lot of blokes to come back and compete for the spots in the team. This pack is only going to get better and better.

“We want to be an old-fashioned England pack and a new-fashioned England the way we attack and we are moving in a really solid progression towards that and you can see how much the players are enjoying it and you can see how much they want to play for each other. There were 82,000 people there tonight that loved to see the spirit of the team.”

Skipper Lawes added: “I’m incredibly proud of the boys. We got pretty excited when the challenge was presented to us. That just shows you where we are at as a group and I don’t think for a minute we ever game up. We can take loads out of that game. There are bits and bobs we can learn from but for the most part, we did everything we said we wanted to do – that was to play for each other and give it everything we have got.

“It’s tough work in the row, I am not going to lie. Obviously, I can play second row and Jack is made to be a flanker, so we were fine in the scrum.”

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j
john 40 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

14 Go to comments
A
Adrian 2 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

14 Go to comments
T
Trevor 5 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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