Eddie Jones's spikiness has been a dominant motif in this drab Six Nations. Today, he was back in irreverent mode, carelessly tossing barbs at all and sundry without any care or worry.
The Welsh are in a state of confusion with regard to their identity, according to Jones.
It relates back to the notorious incident from the weekend, in which Joe Marler sneered at opposite number Samson Lee, using the term 'gypsy boy'.
The Welsh were initially minded to play the whole thing down.
Wales's leading expert on multiculturalism and inter-community relations, Warren Gatland, deployed a 'b' word which rhymes with 'canter' when commenting on what he believed was the essentially harmless nature of the exchange.
The WRU statement, which deployed an 'r' word rhymes with bassist, struck an entirely different note. Regretting the decision not to ban Marler, they wrote:
We are surprised by the decision of the Six Nations disciplinary hearing. We stand by our belief that there is no place for the use of racist language in sport. Clearly this incident has raised broader issues for the game of rugby which require follow up and which we are undertaking directly with Six Nations.
It is in Jones's interests to tuck the matter under the mattress and move on. He's confused by the Welsh confusion. He used an odd sounding Aussie colloquialism to describe the Welsh tactics.
As I said on Monday, we’ve let it run its course. The findings have been made and we just run with those findings. If you look at the Wales statement from Wednesday, they don’t know whether they’re Arthur or Martha.
There’s been a decision made and we’ll run with that decision. That’s why we have these committees.
At one time yesterday they didn’t [think it was racist] and now they do. They’re allowed to do that. I’ve said what I have to say on it. We have got a Grand Slam in front of us.
Presumably, that colloquialism will soon come under attack from trans activists but, for the moment, Jonesy appears to have gotten away with it. You would have to be very PC in fairness. One just doesn't quite have the energy.
