Eddie Jones warns erratic use of red cards could ‘destroy’ World Cup

Eddie Jones has warned that the forthcoming World Cup in Japan could be “destroyed” by inconsistent refereeing, in an unprovoked rant at World Rugby following England’s comprehensive victory in their opening warmup Test at Twickenham.

Jones names his final World Cup squad on Monday but dodged questions over who will be included, insisting that the players would not be informed until the morning. That means those who impressed against Wales such as Lewis Ludlam, Jonathan Joseph and Willi Heinz were facing an anxious wait on Sunday night with Ben Te’o and Mike Brown – axed from the squad last week after an off-the-field altercation in Treviso – in a similar position.

Instead, Jones trained his sights on World Rugby. Referring to the red card shown to New Zealand’s Scott Barrett in the All Blacks’ record defeat by Australia on Saturday, he described the decision as “ridiculous” and urged World Rugby to find some consistency. He also claimed that following the same letter of the law, there were two incidents in England’s impressive win against Wales that could have warranted red cards, believed to be tackles by Aled Davies and Ross Moriarty on George Ford and Piers Francis respectively.

“I thought there was an issue with the referee [Mathieu Raynal],” Jones said. “We saw a red card yesterday which affected the game. We need to get some consistency into that area of the game. In the World Cup if you lose a player through a red card as New Zealand did yesterday, it makes the game very difficult. I thought we saw two instances today where that could have happened. I urge World Rugby, although I don’t think they do anything at great pace, to get some consistency in that area because otherwise we will have games being destroyed by an inconsistent official making a decision on a law that’s not clear.”

Referee Mathieu Raynal was scrutinised by Jones.



Referee Mathieu Raynal was scrutinised by Jones. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The referee during the Bledisloe Cup match, Jérôme Garcès, showed Barrett a red card in accordance with a revised “sanction framework”, introduced by World Rugby following a summit in Paris in March. Jones has previously been part of the governing body’s law review group, which has looked at ways of enhancing player safety in the tackle, but he believes Barrett’s red card – awarded for a shoulder charge on Michael Hooper – was the wrong decision.

“I thought it was ridiculous,” Jones said. “A bloke gets tackled, he goes to be second man in and his shoulder hits his head and he gets a red card. We can’t have that in the game. What I’m saying is that we need to have some consistency and common sense.”

Jones had less to complain about with his players’ performance and was able to deliver a positive injury bulletin on Tom Curry, who made way after a hugely impressive half an hour with a shoulder injury. “He’s fine. He’s got a bit of an AC knock but he’ll be all right.” Similarly, Jones confirmed there were no long-term concerns over Sam Underhill and Henry Slade, who were both late withdrawals on Friday. Underhill was seen in the stands wearing a protective boot, Slade a knee brace but both are “all good”, according to Jones.

Warren Gatland meanwhile has more of an injury headache after Gareth Anscombe limped off with a knee injury, capping a difficult day for Wales, who were denied the 15th consecutive win that would have moved them above New Zealand as No 1 team in the world. Anscombe will have a scan on Monday and Gatland said: “I wouldn’t want to be naming my squad on Monday, I can tell you that. If it’s just a strain of the ligament, [Gareth will] be out for a few weeks. We’ll know more details after the scan.”

Meanwhile, Ludlam acknowledged he was facing a night of little sleep at England’s team hotel after strengthening his claim for a place on the plane to Japan after an impressive debut. Ludlam may ultimately benefit from Brad Shields’s ongoing foot injury with Ruaridh McConnochie similarly hopefully of being included, possibly as injury cover because of concerns over Jack Nowell’s fitness.

“We’ll find out some time tomorrow but we can’t do anything now,” Ludlam said. “It was surreal for me. This time last year I was fighting for a contract. These boys have welcomed me in over the last seven weeks and I wanted to rip in for them and do them proud. It was a special occasion for me.”

source: theguardian.com