The RFU and chief executive Bill Sweeney have told head coach Eddie Jones to be mindful of his future comments after heavily criticising referee Ben O’Keeffe following England‘s win over Wales.
Jones was outspoken about the New Zealand referee’s performance after watching his side overcome Wales 33-30 with 13 men.
The England coach gave particularly strong remarks about the decision to show Manu Tuilagi a red card, saying ‘there was no common sense shown’.
Jones also said the match was like ’16 against 13′ after England had Ellis Genge sin-binned.
Sweeney, the boss of Jones, said he had spoken to the Australian about how his comments were not in-keeping with rugby values.
“The Rugby Football Union does not condone comments that in any way undermine the integrity of match officials, who are central to the sport and its values,” Sweeney said in an RFU statement.
“We have discussed with England head coach Eddie Jones the nature of the comments he made to the media in the immediate aftermath of a dramatic finish to the England versus Wales Guinness Six Nations match on Saturday, and have made it clear that such comments are not in line with the values of the sport or the RFU.
“Eddie and the RFU regret any implication that Ben O’Keefe was biased in his decision making. We have outlined this position to the tournament organisers the Six Nations and World Rugby, who will pass on our apologies to Ben O’Keefe and the match officials team.
“In the meantime, Eddie Jones and the RFU have proposed a high level discussion forum with World Rugby to help achieve greater general alignment between coaches and match officials.
“All parties are satisfied that the matter has been dealt with appropriately, are confident that further action would be taken should such a situation occur in the future, and consider the matter to be closed.”
