England boss Jones calls for clarity over head-high tackles
Jones felt there were at least two incidents during the game which could have led to a red card, although the Australian refused to be more specific with his thinly-veiled criticism of French referee Mathieu Raynal.
But following the red card handed out to New Zealand’s Scott Barrett for a head-high shoulder charge on Australia captain Michael Hooper during the All Blacks’ shock 47-26 loss in Perth on Saturday — a decision made by Jerome Garces, another French referee — Jones said World Rugby needed to clarify the position ahead of the World Cup in Japan, which starts next month.
“I thought there was an issue with the referee,” Jones, who names his World Cup squad on Monday, told reporters.
“We saw a red card yesterday (Saturday) which affected the game.
“We need to get some consistency into that area of the game.
“In the World Cup if you loose 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 do they, 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,” the former Australia and Japan coach added.
Jones is not alone in being concerned, with Wales great Jonathan Davies tweeting earlier on Sunday: “Referee will decide who wins the RWC (Rugby World Cup) this year, not the best team unfortunately.”
World Rugby are trying to crack down on challenges that could lead to serious head injuries.
– ‘Some common sense’ –
But Jones was scathing about the decision to send Barrett off, saying: “I thought it was ridiculous. 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. There has to be some common sense applied, but maybe common sense was applied today really well.
England’s victory prevented Six Nations champions Wales from going top of the world rankings and also ended the visitors’ 14-match winning streak.