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Jones: Refs 'best in the world for today'
By Christopher Devine
Eddie Jones emphatically rejected the notion England got lucky in their 30-6 win over Australia at Twickenham, after a number of marginal calls went in favour of the hosts.
Tries in the final eight minutes from Jonathan Joseph, Jonny May and Danny Care enabled England to ultimately triumph by a wide margin on Saturday.
However, there was plenty of controversy prior to the one-sided finale as Australia had two tries disallowed by the TMO either side of Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale being sin-binned.
The Wallabies also felt hard done by when Elliot Daly's 54th-minute score was allowed to stand, after multiple replays had been viewed in a bid to determine whether the ball had gone out of play.
Yet when Jones was asked in his post-match news conference if he felt his side "got a bit lucky", England's coach offered a spiky response.
He replied: "Why do we have a referee? Why do we have TMOs? I don't understand the question. How were we lucky?
"They do 10 replays of video and they make a decision. This is the best referee in the world for today [Ben O'Keeffe]. We had the best guys in the TMO [box] and you're saying we're lucky because the decisions went our way."
As his interrogator attempted to explain the reason for his question, Jones cut in by sarcastically saying: "I'm sorry we're lucky. I'm sorry, mate."
Jones' mood was brighter as he joked about his conduct during the match. The Australian had issued an apology after he was caught on camera swearing during last week's win over Argentina, but he was able to remain calm on this occasion as his opposite number, Michael Cheika, cut a furious figure.
"I didn't throw a pen today, I didn't swear. I thought I'd even it up with the other box," said Jones with a grin.
"I think my mother will be pleased. I don't expect a phone call at 5 o clock in the morning tomorrow."
England have now won all five of their Tests against Australia under Jones, who added: "The only time I've ever seen 5-0 before was the 70-71 cricket. Australia got absolutely demolished, Bill Lawry got dropped as captain and Ian Chappell took over, which was the resurgence of Australian cricket.
"It's nice to win 5-0, but we're only as good as that game and we know we need to keep improving."
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Latest Comments
I don’t think so. True champion sides can deploy all types of games, including a classical trench warfare arm-wrestle. I don’t think the Bears quite have it in them. Not sure a team can win a trophy with highlight reel rugby alone. It’s easier to disrupt it, than it is to create it.
Go to commentsYikes, what a hosing.
Don’t think the Bears are legit title contenders. You can lose, but not like this. Getting bent over and pumped like this completely removes the fear factor of s team.
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