Eddie Jones has teed off about the red card handed out to Manu Tuilagi in England's Six Nations victory over Wales at Twickenham.
New Zealand referee Ben O'Keeffe, in consultation with South African television match official Marius Jonker, sent Tuilagi off in the closing stages after his shoulder appeared to make contact with George North's head.
The 81,522 in attendance sure didn't agree with the decision. Neither did Jones.
England coach Eddie Jones. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
It was another difficult rugby situation, with Welsh wing North diving low for the line and Tuilagi scrambling across field.
Tuilagi was deemed to not have used his arms and the way the game is governed, O'Keeffe was left little choice.
Jones, however, thought otherwise. Just before Tuilagi was sent from the field, England also had prop Ellis Genge yellow carded for repeat team infringements which allowed Wales to rally for two late tries which significantly skewed the final 33-30 margin in England's favour.
"At the end we're 13 against 16 and it's hard. I thought it was a brilliant performance by the team," Jones said after his side's third win in succession.
Asked to clarify his 13 against 16 reference, Jones said: "You work that out."
Jones then took aim at O'Keeffe for the red card with comments that may yet land him a fine.
England's Elliot Daly celebrates scoring a try with his teammates during the Six Nations international rugby union match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium. Photo / AP
"I just find it bizarre. I usually don't comment but I can't see how you can tackle a guy. You might as well just say if you tackle someone like that you let him go. How else are you supposed to tackle him? This bit about where your arms are what a load of rubbish.
"Manu was trying to kill the tackle, that was the only thing he was trying to do. Absolute rubbish. So I'm sorry, I've broken my rule.
"There's no commonsense applied in that situation. Clearly the guy is falling, there's a good chop tackle and Manu is coming across to kill the tackle. He's doing everything he's supposed to be doing and he gets red carded. Come on.
"When you've got a three-man advantage you're going to do some damage to your team and that's what happened. I thought we were exceptional.
"They got the possession, they were chasing the game and they had a numerical disadvantage so it was tough."
Wales coach Wayne Pivac backed O'Keeffe and his officials.
"I thought it was the correct decision," Pivac said.
Jones, meanwhile, claimed England are now a better team than at last year's World Cup, citing their ability to generate quick ball and grind out matches.
Under his guidance England have won 24 of 27 at Twickenham, with Ireland and All Blacks the only teams to savour success during that period.
"The Six Nations is massively important isn't it? You get run out of town if you lose at home. That's the reality – you become that Australian coach so it's important to win at home but it's important to win everywhere. We don't just want to be the team that just wins at Twickenham," Jones said.
"That's our goal, we're not there at the moment, but we believe we've made some strides in a positive direction."
