Eddie Jones reacts to England’s defeat by Wales

Eddie Jones didn’t criticise referee Pascal Gauzere for Wales’ two controversial first-half tries in their 40-24 Six Nations victory over England in Cardiff.

The England head coach wouldn’t comment on the decisions because he didn’t want to risk a fine.

“They’re huge decisions, we can’t debate it, we are not allowed to debate it,” said Jones after the match. “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, the wife won’t be able to eat, so I can’t say anything.

“They get points maybe they don’t deserve and we have to fight to get back in the game. It makes it difficult and you have to be good enough to overcome it. They were worthy winners, but we have to be good enough to overcome those, as unusual as they might be.”

Related: Wales v England Match Verdict

It was after this fixture last year that Jones was critical of referee Ben O’Keeffe for sending off Manu Tuilagi. He was later reprimanded by the RFU, who apologised to O’Keeffe.

This time Jones avoided criticising the officials and instead pointed to his side’s ill-discipline – they conceded 14 penalties – and inaccuracy as flaws in their performance.

“It’s a very disappointing result,” he said. “Our boys overcame a tough start to get back and get to 24-all then we let ourselves down a little bit. We got in their 22 eight times, they got in ours six.

“The score indicates a substantial win for Wales, but I don’t think that indicates the actual game.

“There were times we gave away penalties we shouldn’t have, it was just from the effort and sometimes you get in situations where emotionally you struggle because of the circumstances and you try too hard and that happens.

“We take full responsibility and dont blame the referee. I want my dog to eat food, so I am not going to say anything.”

Scrum-half Ben Youngs, whose try brought England level at 24-24 midway through the second half, also highlighted the penalty count as what let England down.

“It’s an interpretation and you have to get on with it,” Youngs said of the decision for Wales’ first try. “You’re in the huddle, the whistle goes, you turn and they score from it. There’s not a lot you can do about it. He was adamant it was fine and he’s the guy in charge.

“You just get on with it. We clawed our way back to 24-24 but our ill-discipline was the theme of the game.

“We got ourselves in a position to kick on and try to win the game. Unfortunately we just couldn’t eradicate poor discipline. When you give away easy points you’re going to be putting yourself under pressure and eventually they were able to claw ahead.”

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