Two Super Rugby centurions have rubbished comments from Eddie Jones that suggested the Wallabies had the rub of the green in their win over England on Saturday.
Australia lock Darcy Swain was sent from the field in the Xth minute of the match after headbutting opposite Jonny Hill. Despite the numbers advantage, however, England failed to capitalise until the final moments of the match.
With the scores 6-apiece at halftime, Australia scored three tries to England’s one in the following 37 minutes to build a sizeable 16-point lead. England finally burst to life with time almost up on the clock to score two quick tries but it was too little too late, with the home team ultimately triumphing 30-28.
In England’s post-match press conference, head coach Jones implied that Kiwi referee James Doleman had been more lenient on the Wallabies following Swain’s red card.
“That always happens, mate. If you look at the history of the game, whenever you get a red card, the referee evens it up,” Jones said.
“Social reciprocity. That happens, mate. That’s normal. We’ve got to be good enough to handle it.
“That happens in every game of rugby I’ve seen where a team gets a red card … because they’re nice blokes, referees.
“I’m not criticising the referee at all, I’m not using it as an excuse, that’s just the reality of rugby.”
Speaking on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, former Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall and former Blues hooker James Parsons both suggested Jones was simply trying to draw attention away from his team’s less-than-satisfactory performance.
“I don’t think [Australia got the rub of the green],” said Hall, who started at No 9 in the Crusaders’ Super Rugby Pacific grand final victory over the Blues but has not signed to play in Japan. “It’s classic Eddie Jones, isn’t it? To be able to have a [controversial] talking point [after a defeat].
“The Australians were down with the red card for the whole [second half]. For England, you should be really getting yourself up to win that game so it takes away all the external noise that’s been said around how they should have won that game and the way they didn’t perform to get that result.”
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Parsons, who played two tests for the All Blacks in 2014 and 2016, agreed that Jones had simply been trying to distract from his side’s loss and potentially influence the officials for the remainder of the series.
“I think this is Eddie trying to get an adjustment for the second test,” Parsons said. “He’s always got a plan, he’s always got a mind game.
“I saw those comments and thought, ‘Oh I don’t really agree with that’, so I went back and watched afterwards and in my interpretation of the laws, everything was fair and very clear.
“I just think he’s playing games for test two and just trying to get people to think – and look, it worked, because it made me think. But no, I thought it was very well reffed, to be honest.”
England and Australia will square off once more this weekend, this time at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Ireland’s Andrew Brace will take the whistle for the match.
