TWICKENHAM, Saturday- England coach Eddie Jones slammed referee Ben O'Keeffe for the “bizarre” sending off Manu Tuilagi late in a 33-30 win over Wales in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday that clinched the Triple Crown.
The outspoken Australian boss, risking disciplinary action, even suggested the match had ended as a contest of “13 against 16”, implying New Zealand official O'Keeffe was biased in Wales’ favour, with England two men down after replacement Ellis Genge was sin-binned and Tuilagi shown a red card.
“I find it bizarre, I usually don't comment but I don't see how you can tackle a guy, how else are you supposed to tackle him?,” Jones told reporters when asked about the powerhouse centre's challenge on North.
“It's absolute rubbish. I'm sorry, I've broken my rule. This bit about where your arms are -- what a load of rubbish. I think there's no common sense applied in that situation.”
The former Australia and Japan coach added: “Clearly the guy's falling, there's a good chop tackle, Manu's coming over the top to kill the tackle and doing everything he's supposed to be doing –- come on.”
With England two men down, Wales scored tries in the closing minutes through fly-half Dan Biggar and Justin Tipuric, the flanker crossing for a second time.
“When you have a three-man advantage, it's going to do some damage so I thought we were exceptional,” said Jones.
Returning wing Anthony Watson scored England's opening try as early as the fourth minute and full-back Elliot Daly crossed before half-time, with captain Owen Farrell landing all six of his goal-kicks in a match haul of 15 points.
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