Best for Rugby
Jones warning Japan should go and pray
England are poised to take out their frustration at their 16-15 defeat by New Zealand on Japan on Saturday, with head coach Eddie Jones warning his former side should “go to a chapel and pray”.
England were dismayed at being denied a first win for six years against the world champions by a controversial late decision to rule out a Sam Underhill “try” when the television match official deemed Courtney Lawes offside in charging down a kick in the build-up.
New World Rugby guidelines state that the referee should make the final decision on try-scoring, but on this occasion Jerome Garces appeared to be instructed by TMO Marius Jonker, who told him after a discussion: “It’s offside, so you need to change your on-field decision to a penalty.”
Jones said his players felt the score was legitimate, with doubts about whether Lawes was in an offside position when New Zealand scrum-half TJ Perenara put his hands on the ball.
A ruck was not formed as England players were not competing for the ball but the law states that the offside line is at the hindmost point of any player in the tackle on his feet over the ball. Lawes appears to be fractionally in front of All Blacks prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi, who took a step forward when Lawes moved to charge down the kick, but debate centred upon whether the ball was already in play by then.
“In the moment, I thought, ‘I am onside here, I am going to charge it down’,” said Lawes. “I was deemed offside and therefore I was offside. I think the game should just be played by the rules. I don’t know exactly what the offside line was. We will go back and review it. Maybe I need to take a step.”
Jones insisted, however, that England would not be raising the issue as part of the officials’ postmatch review. World Rugby is also thought to be content with Jonker’s intervention, given that the atrocious weather had made Garces’ ability to assess the replays more difficult.
“It’s difficult to swallow, but you have to, and you have to respect the referee,” Jones told Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek. “That is enormously important. I was really proud of our players that they didn’t carry on on the field. They just got on with it and tried to win the game again.
“We don’t challenge the referee on decisions, we don’t abuse him after the game. The referee is refereering a difficult game, and it is only getting faster and more difficult.
“We have to make sure we keep supporting the referees. It gives rugby a point of difference from other sports. The players thought it was a try, but we are happy to follow what the TMO says.”
Jones, however, appears to have been riled by “cheeky” comments from the Japan camp and intends to exact revenge on Saturday. It is unclear what comments he was referring to, with even Japanese journalists expressing surprise.
“If I was Japan I’d be worried,” he said. “We want to smash them, physically smash them, because I know they’re going to come full of confidence. I’ve heard some of the things they’ve said, they’ve been a bit cheeky, so look out.”
Asked what his advice for Japan was, Jones added: “Pray, pray, pray. Go to the temple and pray. We’re going to be absolutely ruthless.
“If I’m fired up, how are they [the England players] not going to be fired up?”
Jones masterminded a victory over South Africa in the 2015 World Cup as Japan coach but does not fear another upset. “We have to be absolutely ruthless about the game,” he added.
While Jones claimed the performance was a “good step forward” for his inexperienced side, former England head coach Sir Clive Woodward criticised the decisionmaking that cost a chance to inflict a rare defeat on the All Blacks after letting a 15-point lead slip.
He highlighted the decision by Owen Farrell not to kick a penalty at 15-13 and the failure to set up a dropped-goal opportunity late on.
“That was a game I think England should have won,” he told Sportsweek. “Everyone is harping on about the try or no try from Underhill, but for me not to take those points at the point in time was a big error.
“Then not to set up the dropped goal as the clock is going down. That’s not about building for the future, that’s about winning now, and England should have won.”
One player who will not be involved on Saturday is Manu Tuilagi as he continues rehabilitation on a groin injury that ruled him out of the victory over South Africa and Saturday’s defeat.