Eddies Jones: England head coach meets referees' chief to discuss officiating

By Chris JonesBBC Radio 5 live rugby union reporter

Last updated on 30 August 2018.From the section Rugby Union174

Premiership officials are prepared to tweak the way they referee in order to help England in international games.

England boss Eddie Jones has asked referees' chief Tony Spreadbury for "a contest" at the breakdown this season.

Premiership referees favoured the attacking side last season, encouraging teams to keep the ball.

However, England struggled in the Six Nations and on their summer tour of South Africa, where officials allowed defenders more leeway.

"He was saying to me: 'If we have a contest, that will be great for us'," Spreadbury said.

"I said that's fine, but we will referee the laws of the game, and he accepts that. We also want a contest and we want to allow a contest."

As well as speaking to the England boss, Spreadbury regularly canvasses the views of the Premiership coaches, and expects to see a slight tweak in how the game is refereed in the upcoming campaign.

Eddie Jones — England finished fifth in this year's Six Nations, losing three games in the tournament for the first time since 2006

"All the directors of rugby who have spoken to me in July and August say it is about getting people away from the ball but when there's a good jackal, let's reward them," Spreadbury added.

The new Premiership season starts on Friday night, as newly-promoted Bristol Bears host Bath at Ashton Gate.

"We'll see how players react this weekend, and if there's anything different in their approach to how they want to play the breakdown," Spreadbury said.

'Protect the game's values'

RFU officials have also vowed to crack down this season on player behaviour, including appealing to the referee, goading the opposition, and brandishing imaginary cards.

They will also look to discipline unwanted involvement from "non-participants", such as team medics and water carriers.

"Pre-season we have given the clubs the message," Spreadbury said.

"We met yesterday with all the members of the PGMOT [Professional Game Match Official Team].

"We presented to them about the game values and what we want."

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174 comments

Comment posted by Paul, at 10:03 31 Aug 2018
Am I missing something? Why don't England just try being better in the department where "the Messiah" thinks the refs were penalising them. Sounds like hes such a control freak that the players aren't allowed to adapt on the pitch to "whatever way" the ref is officiating. Even at our local club the players all adapt to the ref, the captain gets the brief and he tells the players.
Comment posted by spot the ball, at 10:29 31 Aug 2018
England's problems were caused less by the officiating and more by the tendency of most premiership teams to stand back from the breakdown and simply allow the attacking team to have the ball again. That's fine if everyone is doing the same. When England players did that in the 6 nations, however, they got fleeced by sides coached to use use aggressive defence - simple really, stop whinging...
Comment posted by Brick Tamland, at 13:14 31 Aug 2018
17. Posted by Tufty

I really don't get the negative response to the article, making a contest at the breakdown will encourage back row forwards to turnover the ball. Exactly what we need in English rugby, we are miles behind Southern Nations countries, even behind Ireland and Wales.
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And Scotland.
Comment posted by Finkelstein, at 09:53 31 Aug 2018
England boss Eddie Jones has asked referees' chief Tony Spreadbury for "a contest" at the breakdown this season.

The breakdown was the biggest failure of England last season including the 6 Nations and the South Africa Tests. The failure had nothing to do with officiating rather the lack of preparation and conviction of England.

England need to get back to simple rugby and doing the basics.
Comment posted by U16938273, at 12:54 31 Aug 2018
Funnily enough, all the other 6 Nations coaches are asking Eddie for a decent contest this time too... ;-)
Comment posted by brian, at 11:39 31 Aug 2018
I really hope they follow through on the crackdown about appealing to refs, its getting far too much these days. All it takes is a few penalties/10 metres back early on and the mouthy ones will quieten down. Refs have to get tougher on this - as well as play acting. It doesn't happen much but any obvious "simulation", as they call it in football, should be a red card.
Comment posted by Batesieboy, at 10:40 31 Aug 2018
Adobill and some others cannot read. What the article is saying is that the Northern hemisphere refereeing needs to reflect more closely the way that the game is refereed in the Southern hemisphere. This will help all the 6 nations to adapt their style.
Comment posted by Tufty, at 16:43 31 Aug 2018
26. Posted by Ben
"Make appealing and arm waving at the referee a penalty offence. Itoje the worst offender."

Surely that has to be Dan Biggar!
Comment posted by Alyn WIN jones, at 11:38 31 Aug 2018
leagues resume today and we get more dross about Poor old Eddie. Here is a novel idea for the wise one, try picking flankers not second rowers, and you may naturally get some breakdown competition!
Comment posted by Tufty, at 11:27 31 Aug 2018
I really don't get the negative response to the article, making a contest at the breakdown will encourage back row forwards to turnover the ball. Exactly what we need in English rugby, we are miles behind Southern Nations countries, even behind Ireland and Wales. This is a good thing for English rugby.
Comment posted by Yth, at 11:14 31 Aug 2018
Don’t worry Darren from Devon (8), the Wendyball is still being played for the intellectually challenged who don’t get the subtleties of rugby.
Comment posted by al777, at 15:27 31 Aug 2018
NZ players are 'developed' in the Super 15 (or whatever it is now) and that's not much more than 15-aside 7s. Yet the national side comes to Europe, plays under different refs and interpretations and still casts all aside. Good players adapt.....
Comment posted by U15647195, at 12:13 31 Aug 2018
England where caught cold last year at the ruck not only England but the Prem clubs in Europe,we just couldn’t cope with other referees interpretation.At least EJ has seen the problem and it is being rectified on the training pitch.
I hope this will give a return to the faster flanker instead of relying on a team of giant ball carriers,first to the tackle wins the ball,could lead to a faster game
Comment posted by Obsen, at 10:02 31 Aug 2018
In other news, Eddie Jones likes to eat Shreddies for breakfast.
Comment posted by U15024693, at 16:44 31 Aug 2018
England's problems last year were that they were way too slow to the breakdown, and too thick to realise that arriving late means not arriving at all when it comes to sticking their hands into the ruck. Late = no hands you numpties!
Comment posted by Brick Tamland, at 16:30 31 Aug 2018
71. Posted by Numbnuts

It would appear that objecting to trolls taking every opportunity to slag off all things English / England is not permitted by the BBC police. RIP freedom of speech!
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Yeah, you got your daft comment deleted. It truly is the day freedom died.
Comment posted by Itsnotpersonal, at 15:01 31 Aug 2018
The breakdown is refereed differently in the Pro14 , Top 14 and European Cup.
EJ is simply asking for more consistency across the tournaments so that the ENG teams are better prepared for the job.
Instead I would suggest he gets a forwards coach who can study the International game and prepare ENG as necessary to compete at the breakdown.
Comment posted by Obsen, at 13:06 31 Aug 2018
Ah, the Gallagher Premiership and Pro14 kick-off this evening, and the BBC opens up an HYS about Eddie Jones. Good work BBC. Finger on the pulse there.
Comment posted by Ben, at 12:50 31 Aug 2018
Make appealing and arm waving at the referee a penalty offence. Itoje the worst offender.
Comment posted by mbglaws, at 11:11 31 Aug 2018
Am I the only one getting bored of seeing these nothing articles?

There's 2 other articles one on how we as a rugby playing nation aren't tapping into unused talent pools and one on premiership predictions. Surely both of these are better suited for HYS than one on Eddie Jones meeting with refs, which as head coach he should be doing as standard. Sort it out Chris Jones.

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