Joe Schmidt says he was “disappointed” by England’s “gamesmanship” ahead of their loss at Twickenham.
The build-up was dominated by a report in the Telegraph less than 48 hours before kick-off, which centred on the Wallabies’ “dangerous” and “illegal” breakdown tactics.
The Telegraph said England coach Steve Borthwick had in his referee’s meeting with Nika Amashukeli discussed the Wallabies’ breakdown work, highlighting 40 examples at the ruck.
In particular, Wallabies captain Harry Wilson had come under focus for his work at the ruck.
“I think it’s a bit of gamesmanship,” Schmidt said.
“We’ve had up until today 1256 attacking rucks. There’s two players at least in each of those. That’s 2500 ruck entries.
“We had one yellow card. No one has left the field injured as a result of our clean-outs. We haven’t ever been excessively penalised for side entry.
“So I always find those things disappointing but not distracting.”
Joe Schmidt said he was left “disappointed” by England’s efforts to put pressure on the referees. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Amashukeli penalised Australia six times in the opening 20 minutes, mainly for ruck offences.
The Georgian referee also pinged Wilson for “taking the space and impacting the clean” in the third minute when England had scrambled back to defend their line from a clever Harry Potter kick.
Seconds later, Wallabies tight-head prop Taniela Tupou was also penalised for side entry at the ruck.
Despite Amashukeli hammering the Wallabies early at the ruck, Schmidt said he didn’t think it was a result of the report.
‘No, I don’t think so,” he said.
“We’d have a look at guys with their hands down and if it’s not one thing, it could be another.
“But we’d have a fair bit of confidence in the referee. For all those incidents that were highlighted, ten were sent to the referee and he didn’t even agree with them all.
“So it wasn’t the number 40 that was said earlier in the week, and I think the referee is a very experienced referee and he just got on and refereed the game.”
Steve Borthwick says he was happy with the officiating during England’s win over the Wallabies. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)
Borthwick, the coach at the centre of the earlier report, said he had no issues with how the Test was officiated but added that his side needed to be better in the area after Wallabies flanker Fraser McReight almost stifled England’s efforts to put the visitors away.
“I think that Nika had a good game, but we’ve got some areas to improve,” Borthwick said.
“I thought Fraser McReight stole too many balls from us. He’s a wonderful player, an incredible player.
“We’ve got some work to do in that area, we know Fiji challenge a breakdown from inside and outside, and they have a big counter-ruck threat.
“So, we’ve got some work to do this week.”
He added: “I thought Nika did a great job in the game, and he’s an experienced ref who did a great job in difficult conditions.”
The defeat was a hammer blow in the Wallabies’ efforts to finish in the top six on World Rugby’s rankings ahead of December’s 2027 World Cup draw.
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/2108LQS left ‘disappointed’ by England’s ‘gamesmanship’
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