Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said he would have a word with his ‘Uncle Eddie’ following the England coach’s attempts to rile his side ahead of their Six Nations clash at Twickenham on Saturday.
Jones, no stranger to pre-match ‘mind games’ questioned the Wales skipper’s conduct in standing in front of Finn Russell, preventing the Scotland fly-half from quickly converting Pete Horne’s late try in last weekend’s Six Nations clash in Cardiff while the television match official reviewed the score.
Although it did not affect the result, with Wales winning 34-7, points difference could yet play a role in the destiny of the Championship.
British and Irish Lions lock Jones exchanged words with both Russell and French referee Pascal Gauzere before retreating behind his posts.
England coach Eddie Jones said on Thursday that his near namesake had been “right out of order”, adding he had raised the issue with World Rugby.
But World Rugby confirmed on Friday they were happy with the way Gauzere, who was in contact with the TMO, had dealt with the incident.
“I’ve not seen an exact transcription so I can’t comment too much on the specifics but it was more important that World Rugby, when they were asked for clarification, came back and essentially said that they saw nothing untoward with what happened,” Alun Wyn Jones told reporters at Wales’s team hotel on Friday.
“More importantly, Pascal at the time had no issue, or no issue after the game.
“We’re very grateful that he (Eddie Jones) flagged that up — the fact that you be over-zealous and sometimes appear to go outside the spirit of the game.
“I’m very grateful that Eddie has flagged that up with World Rugby. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and keep within the spirit of the game,” the British and Irish Lions lock added.
“You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. I will have a chat with ‘Uncle Eddie’ after the game,” joked the Wales skipper, no relation of England’s Australian coach.
England launched their bid for an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title with a 46-15 win over Italy in Rome last weekend.
