Cheika left to rage over Farrell’s shoulder hit
England were last night declared worthy winners by Michael Cheika but the Australia coach raged at yet another controversial refereeing decision at Twickenham this autumn.
Once more the spotlight fell on the officiating after referee Jaco Peyper declined to punish Farrell for a shoulder-led tackle on Izack Rodda as he stopped the onrushing Wallabies lock on the stroke of half-time.
“I think it was a penalty try, yeah. I do. I want to make it clear that England were the better team. They deserved to win and had us under pressure for many minutes of the game,” Cheika said.
“But the justification that Rodda tried to take him on with his shoulder is ludicrous – that’s what the referee said. That’s what you do when you carry the ball!
“We had three disallowed tries and not one referral. Maybe we need to move Australia up to the northern hemisphere.”
Eddie Jones adopted the same line he has used throughout the autumn when asked for his view on the officiating of Farrell’s tackle by refusing to criticise the officials.
“You guys love the TMO, I don’t. I just accept whatever decision the TMO makes. That is the end of it,” Jones said.
“We’ve had some good decisions, we’ve had some bad decisions, we just accept them. Speak to Michael about it. I’m sure he’ll talk about it. Why talk to me about Michael Cheika?”
Cokanasiga ran in England’s third try as the poorest Australia team seen at Twickenham for some time began to fall apart and the 21-year-old Bath powerhouse almost added a second with a brilliant catch and run.
Jones added: “Joe’s just starting. He’s still got his training pants on. Wait until he gets proper pants. He’ll be able to play a bit. He’ll definitely get them. He’s going shopping now.”