Eddie Jones and England accused of moaning after law amendment
REACTION: England head coach Eddie Jones has been accused of complaining to get his way after a law amendment was made this week by World Rugby.
Jones was critical of referee Pascal Gaüzère for allowing play to restart for Wales on Saturday, despite England scrumhalf Willi Heinz going off for a Head Injury Assessment. With Anthony Watson already in the sin bin, and Ben Youngs not yet on, England were temporarily playing with 13 players in the build up to Wales’ only try of the game in a 13-6 victory at the Principality Stadium.
World Rugby have acted swiftly, and consequently made a law amendment stipulating that “a match cannot restart until a player leaving the field of play for a blood injury or Head Injury Assessment (HIA) has been temporarily replaced.”
Jones has received some flak on social media for whinging in order to get his way, with many also accusing World Rugby of bowing down to England. However, far more people have said that this was the right decision, and moreover, they were surprised that a law was not already in place regarding this.
Saturday’s try was not the first instance that something like that has happened, and it is therefore surprising that England have received criticism regarding their complaints, as ultimately many feel the right decision has been made. However, the speed in which World Rugby has acted perhaps suggests England have slightly more clout when it comes to making changes to the laws of the game.
Then again, Jones has not shied away from voicing his opinion over the past few years and putting his neck on the line, and while he may have been accused of moaning, it has facilitated a beneficial law change.
This is what has been said about England and Jones:
England been moaning?
— Andrew hatch (@Hatch3231) August 21, 2019
Amazing how fast WR move when it’s England that have the problem.
— Riccardo Ball (@rikdog72) August 21, 2019
England get their way again 😂
— Dan Peate (@Dan_Peate) August 21, 2019
English what more do I have 2 say. Never happy
— Sam Frost (@SamFrost2017) August 21, 2019
Eddie Jones’ hissy fit strikes again
— David Conway (@MrMonteytheCat) August 21, 2019
Confirmation, if it were needed, that Pascal Gauzere was spot on with the so called quickly taken penalty by Dan Biggar against England. And confirmation that the English media have whinged loud enough. https://t.co/MRqMWPzOxK
— Peter George (@peteclase) August 21, 2019
Eddie really is very effective at lobbying law changes at World Rugby…. https://t.co/sUb7Yd0QkZ
— Ian Price (@goatteeboy) August 21, 2019
Why is it that it happens to everyone else and nothing changes. It happens to England and the law gets changed so that they can’t be fooled again. Why bother holding a World Cup, let’s just give the thing to England and tell them they can keep it. https://t.co/01u1RPtIFY
— TheGhostsOfMerthyr (@ghostsofmerthyr) August 21, 2019
What makes this decision particularly interesting is that the incident on Saturday led to Wales winning the game, and ultimately becoming number one in the world rankings.
Of course, this was in the first half, so it is foolish to say the game would have ended 6-6 without the try being allowed as there was a lot of play. However, some All Blacks fans are not too happy on social media, as something that is now outlawed led to them losing their spot at the top of the rankings.
By Josh Raisey
