Jones calls for change of behaviour

London: Eddie Jones attempted to play down an incident in the tunnel at Ellis Park following his side’s thrilling 42-39 defeat by South Africa. Jones was verbally abused by supporters leaning over the railings after the final whistle and stood his ground for 10 to 15 seconds before being ushered away by players and staff. Jones, who was also abused by Scotland fans after England’s defeat at Murrayfield earlier this season, later insisted the confrontation was no big deal.

“They [South African fans] have always got plenty to say, especially when they win,” said Jones, who claimed he had merely invited a noisy fan to discuss his grievances over a bottle of wine.

“Don’t worry about one little conversation about a bottle of red wine in the tunnel. I was just asking them where I could get a good bottle of Pinotage and I’m still waiting for the answer. I might go back and see him later.”

The England head coach also insisted there were reasons for optimism despite his team’s failure to defend an early 24-3 lead.

“It was a game we could have won,” said Jones. “I thought we were brilliant at times in the first 20 minutes but maybe we got seduced by the game.

“Our next 60 minutes was a mix of inconsistency and lack of discipline. We had a penalty count of 17-4 against us and it’s hard to win any Test match with that. I’m proud of the effort of the boys but we need to fix our discipline. We have to change the behaviours of the players and sometimes that isn’t easy. We’re not blaming the referee, we’re taking full responsibility for it.”