‘Referee gave Aussies helping hand after dismissal’

EDDIE JONES claimed referee James Doleman ‘helped’ 14-man Australia clinch a dramatic win in the series opener, to end England’s eight-match winning run against them.

The Wallabies were plunged into chaos when lock Darcy Swain was sent off for head-butting Jonny Hill, after injuries to Quade Cooper, Tom Banks and Allan Alaalatoa.

But they responded to adversity with three tries in the last quarter to surge into a 30-14 lead before Henry Arundell and Jack van

Poortvliet touched down for England on debut, when the game was gone.

Having suffered the first defeat of his tenure against his compatriots, Jones suggested that Doleman had penalised his side heavily after the dismissal of Swain.

‘That always happens,’ he said. ‘You look at the history of the game, whenever you get a red card, the referee evens it up.

‘It’s reciprocity, it happens, that’s normal and we’ve got to be good enough to handle it. That happens in every game I’ve seen. One team gets a red and the opposition gets evened up, because they’re nice blokes, referees.

‘I’m not criticising the referees, I’m not using it as an excuse, that’s the reality of rugby.

‘I think when you play against 14 men, the referee has a significant impact on the game. He evens it up. He helps the team with the red card.

‘You’ve got to be good enough to understand what that impact is and we weren’t good enough to understand what that is. Therefore we paid the price.

‘We are not using the referee as an excuse, but the referee changes and you have to adapt.’

Jones accepted blame for England’s fourth successive defeat — and a fifth in seven games in 2022 — but was bullish about his side’s chances of recovering to win the series, adding: ‘I’m disappointed that we’ve lost. The results aren’t good enough. I accept that and that’s my responsibility.

We’ll work hard to turn it around. It’s painful, but we’re committed to winning the series 2-1.’

Dave Rennie, the

Wallabies head coach, hailed his team’s character and resilience, saying: ‘We train with the scenario of playing with 14 or 13 players all the time. What we know is that we just have to work harder. We found a way.’

The former Glasgow Warriors head coach also revealed that Australia will closely scrutinise the conduct of Hill, who escaped any punishment for shoving Swain hard in the face with both hands moments before they clashed again, leading to a red card for the Wallaby and a yellow for the Englishman.

‘There was certainly provocation, not just in that situation but also earlier in the game,’ said Rennie.

‘We’ll have a decent look at the footage and work out how we’re going to appeal that. We’ll have a decent look at the card. We’ll be seeking clarity around it. If it’s a head-butt, it’s clearly a red card.’