'Astonishing' refereeing infuriates Jones

Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 8:32 AM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
It was an explosive post match press conference, Barbarians captain Quade Cooper flanked head coach Alan Jones who took shots at the referee and Rugby Australia after his side narrowly went down to the Wallabies in Sydney.

Barbarians coach Alan Jones didn’t waste any time airing his ire at the match referee after the Barbarians clash with the Wallabies

The Barbarians were handed two yellow cards in three minutes as the game ticked down, after which Stephen Moore nabbed the winning try for the Wallabies.

Taqele Naiyaravoro went first, for a deliberate knockdown, while captain Quade Cooper was sent for a high tackle on Israel Folau.

Jones was straight into the officiating post-match, saying it wasn’t in the spirit of the game.

“I just found the whole thing astonishing,” he said.

Quade Cooper caught Israel Folau high. Photo: RUGBY.com.au/Stuart Walmsley“It’s a Barbarians game and you’re playing with 13 men and the guy kept blowing the whistle.  

“Think it was something like 16 penalties to four, does that mean we were four times (less) disciplined?

“The bloke was clearly out of his depth.

“Thank God I’m out of the game. Michael Cheika’s got to deal with this stuff all the time.

“You can brand me as a whinger, I’m doing this for nothing. I’m doing it because I believe in the game.

“You’re telling me that’s how you grow the game? The fans that were there today, they’re not stupid they know and the young man as the captain is sent off.

“I still haven’t spoken to Quade about it, I don’t know what the hell he was sent off for.

“I saw the bloke with his hand in his pocket, he couldn’t wait to send off Quade Cooper. Hope it gave him hairs on his chest.”

Cooper was more equivocal about the situation but said it lacked common sense.

“He gave me a reason but in saying that I said to him out on the field I didn't see Izzy because one of their players, Duncan (Paia’aua) ran in front of me and at the last minute I seen izzy popup and i tried to jump out of the way so we wouldn’t have a big collision,” he said.


The Barbarians had an under-the-jumper try denied earlier on in the game, the possibility of which Cooper and Jones said they had mentioned to the referee pre-game and on the field befoer the play.

Taniela Tupou went over under the sticks but the score was pulled back because it was deemed ‘unsportsman-like’.

"When you play a move and you turn around and throw a dummy you’re hiding the ball, it's the same thing," he said.

"It was just a bit of fun, I said to him could we have another go at a scrum or something. It’s unfortunate it wasn’t allowed to be a try but good that we scored from it."

While Jones said he would ‘NEVER’ find himself back in the coaching realm after this,  also teeing off at Australia's rugby administration for a lack of assistance in the lead-up to the match, Cooper said he would be keen to return to the Barbarians given the opportunity.

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