Jones wants inquiry into Marler’s bizarre grab
Prop faces ban for squeeze of Welsh captain’s genitals England coach also risks action for referee criticism
Alun Wyn Jones urged World Rugby to review an incident in which England prop Joe Marler appeared to squeeze his genitals during the first half of a tetchy game at Twickenham.
Marler could now receive a threemonth suspension, while Eddie Jones and Manu Tuilagi also face disciplinary action. Jones, England’s head coach, branded Tuilagi’s late red card, for a shoulder charge on George North, as “absolute rubbish”. He then suggested that referee Ben O’Keeffe had been a 16th man for Wales in the final stages of the hosts’ 33-30 win.
Marler, given a £20,000 fine and a two-week ban for calling opponent Samson Lee a “gypsy boy” in this fixture four years ago, seemed to grab Jones between the legs with his left hand in the eighth minute amid a fracas featuring players from both sides.
The incident was picked up by television cameras and angered the Wales captain, who immediately alerted assistant referee Alexandre Ruiz.
According to World Rugby regulations, “grabbing, twisting or squeezing the genitals” of an opponent carries a “low-end” sanction of a 12-week ban.
“What would you do in that situation?” Jones asked a reporter. “[I’ve played] 138 Tests for my country, [but] if I react, I get a red card. It’s tough, isn’t it. Hopefully World Rugby have a look at it. Joe’s a good bloke and lots of
things happen on a rugby field. It’s difficult as a captain these days because you can’t speak to a referee, it feels. I looked at the touch judge, who obviously didn’t see what happens – and that’s fine.
“But there is a lot of footage that has been shown, obviously. And it seems that a lot of supporters saw what happened. It’s just very frustrating.
“We talk a lot about TMOs [television match officials] and footage review and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of it happening.”
England had already been reduced to 14 men, courtesy of Ellis Genge’s yellow card, when Tuilagi combined with Henry Slade to stop North crossing the line with five minutes remaining.
However, with the help of television match official Marius Jonker, New Zealander O’Keeffe dismissed Tuilagi.
The Leicester centre, scorer of England’s third and final try, is likely to be given a six-week ban.
“My decision is a red card,” explained O’Keeffe on the field. “The facts are that it’s clear foul play.
“He has never chosen to wrap his arms, it’s a shoulder charge which makes direct contact, with force, to the head. We’re not allowed to mitigate this, although he [North] does dip, because it’s always a shoulder-charge.”
That did not satisfy England coach Jones, who made clear his annoyance with the match official when he said: “At the end, we were 13 against 16.”
He then railed against the decision. “I just find it bizarre,” he added. “I usually don’t comment, but I don’t see how you can tackle a guy.
“You might as well just say you let him go, because how else are you supposed to tackle him?
“This bit about where your arms are, what a load of rubbish. Manu was trying to kill the tackle. That’s the only thing he was trying to do.
“It’s absolute rubbish. I’m sorry, I’ve broken my rule [of commenting on referees’ decisions].
“It just seems there’s no common sense applied in that situation. Clearly the guy is falling, there’s a good chop tackle and Manu is coming over the top to kill the tackle.
“He’s doing everything that he’s supposed to be doing and the result is he gets red-carded.”
Tuilagi’s challenge looked similar to the collision between New Zealand’s Scott Barrett and Australia flanker Michael Hooper last August.
Barrett was red-carded for that challenge, a situation that Jones described as “ridiculous”.
Despite that, Jones was impressed by England’s display, particularly the way in which they recovered from a spectacular Justin Tipuric try from the second-half restart.
He stressed that they have moved on from their World Cup disappointment in Japan last year.
“We’re a better team now than we were at the World Cup,” he said.
“We can play sharp, we can play quick when the occasion allows us to as it did against Ireland and at times against Wales.
“Then we can really tough it out and find a way to win. That’s what pleased me today.”