Jones masks red mist with an Aussie jibe
EDDIE JONES opened up a war of words with Australia last night as he questioned the scrummaging technique of next weekend’s opponents and called for a meeting with the match referee to raise his concerns.
England’s head coach accused his countrymen of being ‘disrespectful’ by rubbishing Stuart Lancaster’s team’s scrum during last year’s World Cup.
He also insisted he will be airing his own concerns about the Wallabies forwards with South African referee Jaco Peyper this week.
It was a move designed to deflect attention from Elliot Daly’s fifth-minute sendingoff as England recorded their 12th win in succession under Jones with yesterday’s defeat of Argentina.
‘We are looking forward to Australia next week which is going to be a bit of fun, the Australian media last June was very disrespectful to us,’ he said.
‘I am sure they are going to be at that again, so we have got to be prepared and I am very keen to have a chat to the referee about the Australian scrummaging.
‘They have got some issues with the way that they scrum, so we need to have a meeting with the referee and we will invite the Australian coaching staff to come along.
‘We will submit an agenda and make sure that everything is above board.
‘They were penalised four times in a row against France so they have got some technical issues.
‘I am not going to sort them out for them. The best win is to come — Australia will be the best win.’
Daly’s sending-off for a reckless tackle on Leonardo Senatore at Twickenham was described by Sir Clive Woodward as a ‘black mark’ against the young winger, although Jones shrugged it off by saying ‘these things happen’.
There was more concern around the knee injury which forced No 8 Billy Vunipola off in the 38th minute and looks set to rule him out for a substantial period.
Jones added: ‘He’s in a bit of pain and we’ll wait and see. He will have some medical examinations.’
England raced into a 16-0 lead despite Daly’s dismissal, mainly thanks to a penalty try.
But Argentina closed to within two points courtesy of converted tries by Facundo Isa and Santiago Cordero.
However, the home side pulled away largely thanks to the boot of Owen Farrell, who helped himself to 17 points, plus Jonny May’s touchdown.
Jones claimed: ‘I thought that was brilliant. Flexible, adaptable, courageous — we went out with a certain game plan but had to abandon it after five minutes.
‘When you consider that we probably left a few points out there, it was a good display.’