Rassie Erasmus, South Africa's coach, filmed an hour-long video review of match officials in the Springboks game against the British & Irish Lions
Eddie Jones, England's head coach, believes Rassie Erasmus' video tirade against referees could be a dangerous precedent.
The Springboks boss's hour-long criticism of match officials led to the discrediting of the recent series against the British Lions.
Jones believes that Erasmus should have been disciplined even though a disciplinary process is underway.
Jones stated that Jones should quickly deal with the matter.
He said, "We must ensure that we have respect for the game. We are asking children to be respectful of the referee. If they see examples where coaches or players disrespect the referee, it gives them an excuse not to do it at their own level."
Although the series between the Lions and South Africa was won 2-1 by the world champions it was played in an aggressive, attritional manner, Jones says that supporters should not be too downhearted about the current state of the game.
Jones said, "I thought it was an excellent contest, but it was all just about the contest and there wasn't any continuity in the game."
"If there had been crowds, we might have remembered them for good contests. But because it was not in front of any crowds, it lacked emotion.
"The rugby was not great, but that's the Lions series''.
"We should not be too discouraged that the game is going in the wrong direction. The game will rebound. Rugby is resilient, that is the one thing we know.
Jones, who has been censured in the past for remarks made about referees, believes that there is an "appropriate" way to provide feedback about officials.
While he is critical of Erasmus's approach, he admits that there are issues in the current way rugby union has been officiated.
He said, "I think that the game is in an excellent place but we must be careful. I think there are issues in the game that we need to examine very carefully. I believe one of them is the diligence and dedication of the referees in refereeing the important part of this game well."
"Rassie made his famous clip and I don’t believe that is true. But we need to make sure that the referees work as three much harder than they are at the moment, especially at the breakdown, to ensure that we get what we need, which is a fair competition between continuity and contest.
"But, there's a way that you can do it right. That is to be respectful of the referee."
"Timing right to Cockerill"
Richard Cockerill, former boss of Leicester and Edinburgh, has now joined England as a forwards coach.
Jones is confident that he has assembled a strong team of coaches to help him take on the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Jones had to quickly recruit three senior assistants after Jason Ryles and Simon Amor, John Mitchell, all resigned from their positions in the past six month.
Martin Gleeson, a former rugby league star, has joined Wasps as an attack leader. Anthony Seibold is in charge of defense.
Richard Cockerill, former boss of Leicester and Edinburgh, is joining the team as forwards coach.
Jones claims he has a long-standing working relationship with Cockerill and denies that the former hooker will make it difficult for current forwards coach Matt Proudfoot to succeed him.
"He was available, and it was the right time for us. Jones stated that finding the right coach at international level requires luck as well as timing.
He was the Tigers' coach when I met him. We had a great relationship. He is straight-up-and-down and tells you what his thoughts are. He is also very adept at coaching forward play, which is crucial for Test match rugby.
"[Cockerill & Proudfoot] will work together. Matt is the forwards coordinator so he will take charge. Cockers will take care of the line-out, and Matt the scrum. This is a common situation in forward coaching.
"We feel that we have a strong coaching team."
The return of the grassroots will "help many people"
On the weekend of September 4th, community rugby union was fully restored in England. This was external-link and included full contact 15-a side matches for the first time since March 2020's coronavirus lockdown.
Jones stated that it was important for rugby to open up and allow players to play full rugby games.
"For rugby, the community game remains the foundation and base of the game."
