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Ireland's scrum gave up six penalties. Billy Stickland/INPHO
Discipline

Eddie Jones disappointed Ireland didn't get yellow card for scrum penalties

The England boss believes his team’s defeat was ‘a foundational game’ for them.

ENGLAND BOSS EDDIE Jones says he was frustrated that Ireland didn’t receive a yellow card for repeated penalty concessions at the scrum during his team’s 32-15 defeat in Twickenham.

Andy Farrell’s visitors had major issues at the scrum, where they conceded six penalties and gave up a free-kick.

England generated huge momentum from the set-piece as they battled back to 15-15 heading into the final quarter of the game before Ireland finished strongly to notch a bonus point.

Jones questioned why referee Mathieu Raynal hadn’t gone to his yellow card as those scrum penalties racked up.

“I’m a bit disappointed the referee didn’t allow us to scrum fully,” said Jones.

“That would be my only complaint. We weren’t allowed to play advantage away from the scrum. We got four scrum penalties and there was no sign of a yellow card.

“We want to have a powerful scrum and if World Rugby want to have the scrum in the game, they have got to allow the strong scrums to dominate. We’re disappointed we didn’t get more out of that.”

Charlie Ewels’ second-minute red card made life very difficult for England and their huge effort showed in the final quarter as they ran out of steam.

It’s a second defeat for England in this Six Nations and ends their title hopes ahead of next weekend’s visit to Paris, where they will look to spoil the French Grand Slam party.

But Jones took encouragement from his players’ performance against Ireland with 14 men.

“We showed great spirit and great tactical discipline,” said Jones. “There was about 15 to go, it was 15-15 and we were controlling the game and we just made a couple of mistakes that allowed them into the game.

eddie-jones-ahead-of-the-game England head coach Eddie Jones. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

“It was a great learning experience for this team. I couldn’t be prouder of them. They are a young team and the older guys like Courtney [Lawes] and [Ellis] Genge, Jamie George led beautifully and the young guys adapted really well and will learn a lot.”

Indeed, Jones went as far as to say this was a crucial experience for England in their World Cup journey.

“I see that as a foundation game for us where we set our campaign for the World Cup in 2023,” said Jones.

“The spirit, the determination, the ability to work through problems were all absolutely outstanding. This pack is only going to get better and better.

“We want to be an old-fashioned England pack and a new-fashioned England attack. We’re moving in a really solid progression towards that. You can see how much the players are enjoying it and how much they want to play for each other.

“There were 82,000 people there tonight that loved seeing the spirit of this team.”

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