Six Nations 2018: Eddie Jones accuses Alun Wyn Jones of being 'right out of order' to ignite England vs Wales rivalry

England head coach accuses Wales captain of football-like tactics to try and influence referees ahead of this weekend's Six Nations grudge match at Twickenham

Eddie Jones believes Rhys Patchell will face more pressure than he has done in his international career so far (Getty)

Eddie Jones has lit the torch paper ahead of this Saturday’s mammoth Six Nations tie between England and Wales, accusing Alun Wyn Jones of being “right out of order” by trying to influence the referee during last weekend’s win over Scotland and going as far as contacting World Rugby to express his concerns over the incident.

The Wales captain stood between Scottish fly-half Finn Russell and the ball in an effort to persuade referee Pascal Gaüzère to review Peter Horne’s try in the 79th minute of last Saturday’s 34-7 triumph. That Gaüzère had already called for the television match official [TMO] to look at the score did not stop Jones from interfering in the conversion attempt, with the lock standing next to the ball for a few seconds before being ushered away by the French official.

As if tensions could not be high enough ahead of an England vs Wales Six Nations clash at Twickenham, England head coach Jones criticised the Welsh veteran for his football-like tactics and revealed he has written to the sport’s worldwide governing body to express just how strongly he felt on protecting the integrity of referees.

Asked an innocuous question about this weekend’s referee, Jerome Garcès, Jones answered: “Garcès is a very experienced referee. He’s got plenty of big match experience, he knows how to handle interesting moments in games.

“He won’t let Alun Wyn Jones intimidate him. I thought that was right out of order last week. We can’t have that in the game, when he tried to stop the referee from allowing the kick at goal. We can’t have that in the game. That’s borrowed from another sport and I really hope World Rugby don’t allow that to creep into the game, because it shouldn’t be part of the game.

“Garcès won’t tolerate that sort of stuff, he won’t let Alun Wyn Jones referee the game.

Jones believes Alun Wyn Jones attempted to influence Pascal Gauzere (Getty)

“All we say is just to be respectful. At times players lose their cool. But that was a contrived bit of behaviour. Not great [from Alun Wyn Jones], not great for the game.

“I’ve said something to World Rugby about it, I feel that strongly, because I think we’ve got to respect the integrity of the referee in the game. We’ve got one of the most difficult games to referee, and the game only gets more complex. It doesn’t get any easier. There’s more density around the ball. The players are bigger, faster, stronger, there’s quicker decisions from the referee, and if we don’t respect the integrity of the game we’re going to lose part of the game.”

While Jones’ verbal attack on the tactics of the Wales skipper is headline-worthy in itself, the fact that the Australian has taken the matter to World Rugby is an unprecedented move from a coach not involved in the match in question. Coaches will regularly bring up concerns or queries to the match-day referee when they are invited to meet with officials the day before a Test, and have also complained to World Rugby after matches if they feel certain decisions or numerous calls went against them for clarification.

For Jones to take such measures in the week leading up to the Wales encounter is either a sign of his concern about Wales’ attempts to influence referees and the growing sight of players either answering back to officials or trying to officiate the game themselves by calling for decisions in their favour, or is an attempt to try an unsettle the Welsh camp fewer than 48 hours before kick-off at Twickenham.

His comments, regardless of intent, will ramp up the emotions ahead of what is one of the biggest rivalries in global rugby. England have had the better of Wales since Jones took the reins, as they have done over most sides, but the fact that Wales helped construct England’s humiliating Rugby World Cup exit in 2015 with a 28-25 defeat at Twickenham – the last time they lost on home soil – has not been forgotten, particularly by those west of the River Severn.

In the 130 matches between the two sides since 1881, England have won 61 times to Wales’ 57. England have 28 championship titles to Wales’ 26, and 13 Grand Slams to Wales’ 11. There is incredibly little between the two nations when it comes to rugby union, and having experienced a similar rivalry with New Zealand while coach of Australia, Jones is fully aware of what is at stake.

Jerome Garces will take charge of England vs Wales this weekend (Getty)

“When you live next to a country it is always a bit more intense,” he said. “If you look at Australia and New Zealand it is always a big rivalry. In Europe it's England and Wales, Asia it's Japan and Korea. Countries that are next to each other – one is always bigger than the other, one has a bigger population, one takes the underdog tag and the other the favourite affair. So it is pretty standard affair. But it is great and as an Australian I feel enormously privileged to be part of it.”

But from the experience of his three encounters with Wales so far, Jones has seen something of a trend that means it doesn’t really compare to the Antipodean rivalry Down Under.

He said: “I don't think it does – there is a certain pattern to these though. Someone speaks a lot at the start of the week and they want to make some noise and create issues in the game. Then they usually finish the week like that. So we expect Robin McBryde to come out and talk about the scrum. That is the moral state of affairs. I have that on my phone to have an alert when it comes out.

“But we have a great referee this week so we don't have to worry about it. We just scrum – we elicited five penalties from Italy last week and that tells the story.”

Alun Wyn Jones has been accused of trying to influence the referee (Getty)

There’s no doubt that the fire has been doused in fuel ahead of a pivotal match in determining who will continue their campaign towards a Grand Slam tilt, and with Alun Wyn Jones having a chance to respond to his namesake’s accusations during the Welsh captain’s run on Friday afternoon, the fire could rage even bigger before a ball is even kicked.