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'We got a new one today, the captain's challenge which we didn't know about... we must be off the memo list'
Eddie Jones believes his match-winning England were hard done by with a late in-game decision that saw referee Andrew Brace reverse a penalty decision and hand Guinness Six Nations possession back to France as full-time approached in the gripping 23-20 win by the hosts at Twickenham.
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The England boss believed it was something he was unaware could happen on the field, a challenge questioning a decision. It is a new law trial that has been in use in recent weeks in Super Rugby but hadn’t been seen before in European rugby.
In New Zealand, the official challenge usually involves a video review and the stoppage of the clock but that wasn’t the case in London. Referee Andrew Brace had awarded England a penalty on halfway on 78:03, claiming that France had not released the ball at a ruck.
Live television pictures broke away to show a replay of the breakdown and when it cut back to live footage on 78:27, Brace had whistled to reverse his decision and instead give the penalty against Ben Earl for being off his feet when he was foraging for possession.
France captain Charles Ollivon was standing alongside Brace when the live coverage resumed and while it was unclear what if any influence the French back row had wielded on the official, Jones labelled the incident a captain’s challenge at his post-game media conference.
Maro Itoje, right at the death! ?
HUGGGEEE.#GuinnessSixNations #ENGvFRA pic.twitter.com/QWLjGhOzaC
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 13, 2021
Initially asked if he was pleased with how England had attacked the French in the round four match, the coach replied: “We have always had the plan post-World Cup that we needed to create a game that will take up to the next World Cup. I believe with all the mooted law interpretations and variations – and we got a new one today, the captain’s challenge which we didn’t know about, so we missed out on the memo. We must be off the memo list, so I’ll need to check the computer and see what happened with that one.
“But we always felt that we needed to develop our game so we started at the start of the Six Nations and slowly we were getting a little bit better at getting the right balance in our game between running and kicking and it was probably another step forward but again we left a bit out there today.”
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Asked to be more specific about the alleged captain’s challenge, Jones added: “The [Earl] decision got overturned that we didn’t know you could do that in a game of rugby. I have been involved with rugby for a little bit of time and I have never seen that before. I have never been informed you can do that.
“If we knew that Owen (Farrell) would have had his rule notebook out and made a note of when he could have challenged the referee. I thought it was just T20 cricket but it was a new one. Added a bit more excitement and also added a few more minutes of television time, so it was good.”
The penalty reversal ultimately didn’t affect the outcome, leaving Jones pleased with what he had seen from his England players following a difficult February where their indiscipline was a factor in the losses to Scotland and Wales. Saturday’s penalty count was 12-8 against the English, but not enough to adversely alter the result.
“Maro (Itoje) and Owen particularly stood out today in terms of the way they led the team, played at their best and contributed to show a lot of composure in terms of coping with difficult periods,” said the coach.
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“It was a good step forward today. We are still nowhere near our best and that is the exciting thing and the players feel that. We have got another week in the competition to put our best foot forward against Ireland, so we are looking forward to raising the stakes again.
“I thought we fought hard against Wales. We had two difficult decisions at the start of the game, got back to 24-all, and today was an extended version of that. I’m really pleased with how honest the players’ effort was. They have been great in the preparation, really good attitude, great leadership by Owen and full credit to the players and the assistant coaches for what a great job they did.”
Jones added: “France are a good team, quality players. They are well-coached and we said to our players we are going to be racing them to the World Cup. They are a good team. They are developing, we’re developing and it’s going to be a good race between the two of us and we got a bit of a head start on them today.”
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Le Crunched… How we rated the England players #ENGvFRA ?https://t.co/kZ5FDEs2u3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 13, 2021
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….
65 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