Eddie bites his lip as Welsh land controversial Crown
EDDIE JONES hinted strongly at his frustration with Pascal Gauzere but refused to condemn the French referee as England were dismantled by Wales.
The Six Nations champions saw their title defence reduced to rubble at the Principality Stadium as Wayne Pivac’s Grand Slam challengers lifted the Triple Crown after amassing their highest Test score against their fierce rivals.
But the ultimately-emphatic victory was shrouded in controversy after Gauzere awarded two controversial tries inside the opening 30 minutes, the first of which former England captain and boss Martin Johnson described as ‘absolutely appalling’.
While acknowledging that Wales were ‘worthy winners’ as his own team’s kamikaze discipline yielded 14 penalties, Jones made it clear that by awarding dubious tries to Josh Adams and Liam Williams, Gauzere had made two crucial interventions.
‘They’re huge decisions. We can’t debate it, we are not allowed to debate it. All I will end up with is a fine and that won’t help anyone,’ said Jones.
‘The dog won’t be able to eat its food, wife won’t be able to eat, so I can’t say anything.’
When asked if the decisions changed the game, Jones replied: ‘Well, they get points maybe they don’t deserve and we have to fight to get back into the game.
‘It makes it difficult and you have to be good enough to overcome it, they were worthy winners, but we have to be good enough to overcome those, as unusual as they might be.
‘There were times we gave away penalties we shouldn’t have, it was just from the effort and sometimes you get in situations where emotionally you struggle because of the circumstances and you try too hard. That happens.
‘Whenever you get beaten and bettered by a penalty, then discipline is an issue. But there were bigger issues in the game than that, and I will let you discuss them.
‘Wales worthy winners. We take full responsibility and don’t blame the referee. But sometimes there are circumstances that happen that are difficult to handle and weren’t good enough to handle them.’
England ironically played their best rugby of the tournament with a number of under-performing stars including Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola stepping up, but having fought back with tries from Anthony Watson and Ben Youngs to level 2424, their discipline imploded once more.
‘We played some good rugby. We got in their 22 eight times compared to their six times, which gives an indication of the quality of our play, but you’ve got to be able to convert that which we weren’t able to do,’ Jones said.
‘We were pleased with the effort of the team. No one can say we aren’t a hard-working and honest group. We’ll learn from this. It’s a great lesson for us.’
Meanwhile, Wayne Pivac says there is no danger of Wales getting carried away by a Triple Crown triumph and thumping victory over England despite enjoying the most points they have ever scored against their fiercest rivals.
They are now closing in on the Six Nations title, with Italy and France to be tackled away from home.
Two more wins would also secure a Grand Slam and, if Wales beat Italy with a five-point maximum and results elsewhere work for them, they could possibly land the title a week early.
Josh Adams, Liam Williams, Kieran Hardy and Cory Hill scored tries for Wales, while replacement Callum Sheedy kicked 13 points, including three late penalties, and Dan Biggar booted a penalty and two conversions.
‘We have to make sure we go out there (to Italy) and put in another solid performance and hopefully get the points. The last weekend will take care of itself.
‘We will be working really hard, looking at the Italians and doing all of our usual reviewing of our performance and previewing them.”
England’s poor discipline surfaced repeatedly, with Maro Itoje a particular culprit.
Asked if he had expected a yellow card for Itoje, Pivac said: ‘Yes, probably before half-time on the fourth one (penalty conceded).
‘That is a lot of penalties for one player. He is pushing the boundaries, clearly, but he is a world-class player. Sometimes world-class players get away with a little bit more than others.
‘A lot of people may have thought that, at 24-24, England were coming pretty strong at us. But our guys found another gear again and we are very pleased with that. ‘For me personally it’s about the players and providing them with an environment where they can come in and get the job done, keep improving. ‘Hopefully, we are doing that and people are seeing that the hard work is starting to pay off,’ added the New Zealander. Wales: L Williams; L Rees-Zammit, G North, J Davies (W Halaholo 50), J Adams; D Biggar (C Sheedy 45), K Hardy (G Davies 65); W Jones (R Jones 63), K Owens (E Dee 63), Tomas Francis (Brown 67), Beard (C Hill 54), AW Jones (capt), J Navidi (J Botham 70), J Tipuric, T Faletau. scorers: Tries - Adams, L Williams, Hardy, Hill. Cons - Biggar (2), Sheedy (2). Pens - Biggar, Sheedy (3) england: E Daly; A Watson, H Slade, O Farrell, J May; G Ford, B Youngs (D Robson 70); M Vunipola (E Genge 67), J George (L Cowan-Dickie 60), K Sinckler; M Itoje, J Hill (C Ewels 58), M Wilson(B Earl 70), T Curry, B Vunipola. scorers: Tries - Watson, B Youngs. Con - Farrell. Pens - Farrell (4).
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France).