Keeping quiet: England head coach Eddie Jones
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Eddie Jones refused to question two “huge” refereeing decisions in England’s Six Nations defeat by Wales because he said he would be fined, which would mean his dog would go hungry.
While England’s discipline saw them concede 14 penalties at the Principality Stadium, referee Pascal Gauzere awarded Wales two controversial first-half tries.
The first came when Dan Biggar fired an opportunistic cross-kick penalty to Josh Adams as soon as Gauzere had blown his whistle (with most of England’s players stood under the posts awaiting a short kick at goal), while the second saw Liam Williams cross after Louis Rees-Zammit appeared to knock on.
While Jones said that Wales got “points maybe they don’t deserve”, he bit his tongue when asked to pass judgement on Gauzere’s performance.
“They're huge decisions, we can't debate it, we are not allowed to debate it,” said Jones.
“All I will end up with is a fine and that won’t help anyone. The dog won’t be able to eat its food, wife won't be able to eat, so I can't say anything.
“Wales were worthy winners. We take full responsibility and don’t blame the referee. But sometimes there are circumstances that happen that are difficult to handle and we weren't good enough to handle them.
"I want my dog to eat food, so I am not going to say anything.”
Jones believes there were “bigger issues in the game” than England’s discipline, and felt they expanded their attacking game.
"We played some good rugby,” he said. “We got in their 22 eight times compared to their six times, which gives an indication of the quality of your play but you've got to be able to convert that which we weren't able to do.”
