England coach Eddie Jones has slammed the state of modern rugby, and used last weekend's Ireland v New Zealand test as an example of the issues in the modern game.
Jones was speaking to the media ahead of his side's decisive third test against Australia this weekend, and said that the state of officiating in rugby had deteriorated dramatically.
Last week's game between Ireland and New Zealand brought controversy after some indiscipline from New Zealand brought them two sinbins and a red card. Jones spoke out against those cards earlier this week and on Thursday went one step further, saying he would call for a summit of World Rugby to discuss ways to combat the state of the sport's officiating.
Ireland v New Zealand: Eddie Jones slams state of modern rugby
Eddie Jones said during his press conference that he is not alone in thinking that referees are struggling to cope with the pressure of modern rugby. He said that the stop-start nature of rugby nowadays was harming the sport's "balance" and said that he would push for a summit urgently to solve the issues.
He began by saying he never wanted to see a game like last week's New Zealand v Ireland test "ever again":
I don't want to see a New Zealand v Ireland game like that ever again. Otherwise, imagine at the next World Cup - you play a quarter final, you get a red card and two yellows, you're down to 12 men and it's just ridicuous.
The referees are being put under pressure here. We can't blame them.
I've been speaking to a few ex-coaches. The referees, coaches and players need to get together and say 'This is the game we want. This is the game people want to see.' I'm certainly going to be pushing for it because I've had enough.
We've got to get a better balance in the game. There's a rhythm to how rugby is looked at and officiated and we've got to get in a good rhythm again. We don't have it at the moment. Every time we get a flow in the game, there's a stoppage.
We've just gone too far down one road. There are discussions all the time and World Rugby are doing their best. But certainly before November I'm going to be agitating for something like [a summit]. Let's get the game going.
Ireland coach Andy Farrell has seen centre Garry Ringrose ruled out of the third test thanks to the tackle that drew New Zealand's red card last Saturday. Last week's test in Dunedin ran to nearly two hours from kick-off to the final whistle thanks to the stop-start nature referenced by Eddie Jones, with plenty of TMO stoppages and lengthy set piece delays.
The Ireland v New Zealand game has sparked a debate in the rugby world, with All Blacks coach Ian Foster among those to criticise the officiating.
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The final test between Ireland and New Zealand kicks off at 8:05am Irish time from Wellington.
Jones' England go into their third test in Australia with the test series against the Wallabies tied at 1-1. The final game kicks off in Sydney on Saturday at 10:55am Irish time.
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