England vs Wales: Eddie Jones launches scathing attack on World Rugby after ‘ridiculous’ Scott Barrett red card

All Blacks lock was sent off for making contact to the head of an opponent with his shoulder, but Jones questioned why two similar incidents in England’s 33-19 win over Wales didn’t result in similar sanctions

Eddie Jones launched into an unprovoked verbal attack on World Rugby after labelling the red card shown to New Zealand's Scott Barrett on Saturday “ridiculous” in an effort to force the governing body to address the high-tackle law before the imminent World Cup.

The England head coach watched his experimental side pull off an impressive 33-19 victory over a full-strength Wales Rugby side to get their Rugby World Cup preparations off to the perfect start, but his post-match comments attempted to deflect away from Monday’s 31-man squad announcement, which he was unwilling to discuss.

Instead, the fiery Australian used a question over Willi Heinz’s performance to launch into an attack on World Rugby, and referenced two separate incidents during the match at Twickenham to call for more consistency over the ruling and clarification over what is worthy of a red card and what isn’t.

All Blacks lock Barrett was sent off by referee Jerome Garces for hitting Australia captain Michael Hooper’s head with his shoulder in Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash, though both Wales scrum-half Aled Davies and No 8 Ross Moriarty escaped a card of either colour for doing similar to George Ford and Piers Francis respectively as Mathieu Raynal deemed the offences worthy of a penalty only.

“I thought there was an issue with the referee,” said Jones, having initially started his response by crediting Heinz as a “good, mature player”.

“We saw a red card yesterday which affected the game. We need to get some consistency into that area of the game. In the World Cup if you lose a player through a red card as New Zealand did yesterday, it makes the game very difficult.

“I thought we saw two instances today where that could have happened. I urge World Rugby - although I don't think they do anything at great pace do they - to get some consistency in that area because otherwise we will have games being destroyed by an inconsistent official making a decision on a law that's not clear.

“I thought it was ridiculous. A bloke gets tackled, (Barrett) goes to be second man in and his shoulder hits his (Hooper’s) head and he gets a red card. We can't have that in the game.

“There has to be some common sense applied but maybe common sense was applied today really well. But what I'm saying is that we need to have some consistency and common sense. I think it's really important for the game.”

The outburst appeared to be an attempt to deflect away from his squad selection, which will be made at 1pm on Monday afternoon, though it is not yet known if the 31 players being selected will be the only ones to feature over the remaining three Quilter Internationals or not.

Jones did at least confirm that the outlook on Tom Curry’s shoulder injury does not seem as bad as it looked, with the flanker leaving the field after 29 standout minutes with a right shoulder injury.

“He’s fine. He’s got a bit of an AC knock but he’ll be alright.”

Eddie Jones launched an attack on World Rugby after England's win over Wales (EPA)

Sam Underhill, Henry Slade and Ruaridh McConnochie also look to still be in contention for the World Cup squad with Jones saying they are “all good”, although Slade was seen in a knee brace at Twickenham as he watched from the stands.

Wales counterpart Warren Gatland was smart enough to avoid commenting on Jones’ outburst, and was keen to play down the importance of their defeat despite their 14-match winning streak coming to an end and the chance to replace New Zealand at the top of the world rankings slipping through their grasp.

“It’s disappointing in terms of the result, but it’s not something we will dwell on too much,” Gatland said. “It’s about what we take out of today. There are things to work on and to address. There were also some positives from today as well. We need to make sure that next week’s performance is an improvement on today.

Tom Curry left the field after 29 minutes with a shoulder injury (Getty)

“Some people mentioned (going No 1) yesterday. It's a nice accolade in terms of being No 1 in the world but the biggest prize is in a couple of months' time in Japan. Whoever wins the World Cup will be No 1.”

Gatland also confirmed that fly-half Gareth Anscombe suffered a knee ligament injury, with a scan needed to determine if his World Cup hopes have been dented after he left Twickenham on crutches.

Gatland added: “I spoke to the physios and he has got to get a scan. If it is just a strain of the ligament then he will be out for a few weeks, but we will know more about the details after he has had the scan.”