Eddie Jones has shrugged off Eben Etzebeth’s red card for an apparent eye-gouge as “quite a minor incident” in the context of the Springboks’ 73-0 demolition of Wales.
In fact, Jones feels the real story is the crisis unfolding in Welsh rugby.
The Japan head coach used his Rugby Unity podcast to offer a starkly different view to the widespread outrage over Etzebeth’s sending-off for making contact with the eye area of flanker Alex Mann in the dying stages in Cardiff.
“In the context of the game, I think it’s quite a minor incident,” Jones said.
“It’s not good for Eben, and I’m sure he regrets doing it. It looked intentful, which is not fantastic, but I think there are huger issues coming from the game.”
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For Jones, the shockingly weak Welsh performance and a record defeat compounded by an understrength squad, was far more alarming than Etzebeth’s moment of madness.
Wales, missing all their overseas players due to the match falling outside the Test window, were forced to field a severely depleted side. Their bench included uncapped Cardiff prop Danny Southworth and Dragons tighthead Christian Coleman, a one-cap front-rower thrown against what Jones called “the most powerful scrummaging unit to have ever played the game”.
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Jones said the result exposed deep structural failings.
“They’ve let their development system go quite clearly, and they’re paying the price for it now,” he said. “The only way they can fix it is to try to shift all the political boundaries that are put on moving and changing the system and get on with it.”
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