Eddie Jones may have had his complaints after England's loss to Ireland on Saturday, but he couldn't really argue that his side deserved to win the game.
Yes they performed admirably after being reduced to 14 men after less than two minutes, but that was a situation entirely of their own making after Charlie Ewels’ high tackles on James Ryan.
Ireland ultimately got what they deserved with the bonus point victory, with Jones' comments about Andy Farrell's side getting away with things in the scrum unfounded.
The Aussie talked up Ireland's chances in the buildup to the game, labelling them as 'red hot favourites'. However, he also warned that the visitors would not have 'played a game as physical as this for a long time'. Could such misguided comments have contributed to that early red card? Clive Woodward believes so.
Clive Woodward slams Eddie Jones for 'macho' comments
Writing in his column for Mail Sport, the former World Cup winning coach slammed Eddie Jones for his 'pathetic macho' comments in the lead up to the fixture and said his underdog mentality is not suited to being England head coach.
When you re-run the game — and the build-up — it is the mistakes that come to mind and the excellence of Ireland who, for me, would have still won with something to spare, even without Charlie Ewels’ sending off.
Ireland beat England by a record margin and outscored them four tries to nil. I don’t recall England creating a single clear-cut try-scoring opportunity.
Ireland were organised, patient and relied on their class to get the job done. Man for man their backs are on a totally different level to England’s...
They were found wanting and that is the only way to look at this match. There is no Monday morning meeting and England are on the plane home, with Jones once again blaming a referee for his own shortcomings.
Why? Firstly we had all this pathetic macho stuff from Jones in the build-up about how England were going to play with a physicality and aggression that Ireland hadn’t seen before.
Why even go there? Of course it's going to be tough and torrid up front, it’s England against Ireland at Twickenham for heaven’s sake. It’s a given.
It’s that kind of ridiculous rhetoric that probably contributed to Ewels’ dangerous challenge, which was rightly punished with a red card...
Part of that flawed approach was also fuelled by Jones’ insistence that England be viewed as the underdogs.
Eddie is what is often referred to in Australia as an ‘Aussie battler’ — he prides himself as that underdog figure who seems to think the world is against him...
It can work when you are clearly the minnows but England are not little guys who constantly need winding up.
It certainly didn't work on this occasion, but you can't imagine that Eddie Jones will change his approach any time soon.
That is looking increasingly likely to cost him his job in the long run.
SEE ALSO: Nigel Owens Opinion Puts To Bed Eddie Jones' Complaints About Irish Scrum
