Former England and British & Irish Lions star Will Greenwood has defended Italy's controversial tactics that were deployed against his nation's side during England's 36-15 victory over the Italians in their Six Nations clash in London yesterday.
England head coach Eddie Jones accused Italy's tactics of going against the spirit of the game in his post-match interviews at Twickenham yesterday, even comparing the Azzurri's game plan to former Australian cricketer Trevor Chappell's infamous underarm bowl against New Zealand in 1981, which prevented the Black Caps from scoring the six runs that they needed to win in the final ball of the match.
"I'm not happy with what happened: I don't think that's rugby," Jones said of the Italian player's decision to not contest at the breakdown to reclaim the ball. This resulted in no ruck being formed, thus meaning no offside line was evident, allowing the Italian players to get behind the tackle line onto England's side of play, and block off any attempted passes.
"It's not a game of rugby, it ceases to be a game of rugby. Congratulations to Italy, they strategically were smart today. Well done to them but it's not rugby, let's be serious about this," a frustrated Jones vented.
Speaking to Radio Sport Breakfast this morning, the 57-test Greenwood spoke about Jones' spat against the Italians, criticising the former Wallabies and Japan coach while praising Italian coach Conor O'Shea and his side for trying a unique tactic against a side heavily favoured to dominate them.