Rory Keane reports from Twickenham
EDDIE JONES INSISTS he “regrets nothing” following his comments about Johnny Sexton earlier this week.
Speaking after England’s 21-10 victory against Ireland at Twickenham, Jones was quizzed on his remarks about Sexton’s health last Thursday.
“I don’t regret anything, mate,” said the Australian.
“I don’t regret anything. Why would I regret it? Ireland said that he had whiplash injuries, not me. Let’s get factual about this… it was quoted.
“That’s just the sideshow, it’s finished, mate, the main event’s just gone past, I’m not talking about the sideshow.”
In a series of heated exchanges with Irish journalists, Jones bristled when asked for his opinion on Mike Brown’s dangerous rucking near Conor Murray’s head, after superb interplay from Ultan Dillane and Josh van der Flier had England on the rack late on.
Referee Romain Poite, in consultation with the TMO, deemed the incident “accidental” with Danny Care instead sin-binned for killing the ball on the deck.
“The referee adjudicated on it mate,” said Jones on Brown’s careless use of the boot. “Was the ball on the ground? Was the ball on the ground mate? It wasn’t on the ground. Where was it? Had he been tackled?
“Then he can play the ball, mate. Are you allowed to play the ball if it’s on the ground?”
When asked if he would offer an opinion on the incident, Jones replied: “Well you can give your opinion, mate, the referee has adjudicated on it.
“If I say something about the referee then the headline tomorrow is ‘Jones complains about the referee’, so I’m not going to give an opinion, mate.”
Having guided his side to three wins from three in this season’s championship, Jones was clearly irked by the lines of questioning.
“From this press conference onwards, I’m putting a media ban on myself because I don’t want to do any scaremongering,” Jones added.
“I don’t want to do anything that offends the media or offends people’s parents. So, from here until the Friday before the Wales game, I’m not going to talk to the media so you won’t have to worry about that scaremongering.
“If I don’t say anything, then you come away from the press conference saying it’s boring. If I say something, then I’m scaremongering. I can’t win… so the easiest thing is that I don’t come to press conferences. So, you’re going to have a problem with the media officer now.
“Thanks guys, I won’t see you for a long time, so I hope you enjoyed that.”
With that, the England coach exited stage left. Another heated exchange but it won’t bother Jones, his side remain unbeaten with a first Grand Slam since Sir Clive Woodward’s vintage of 2003 looking well within their grasp.
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