Eddie Jones cops serious amount of grief for ‘classless’ opinion of Italy

Eddie Jones has advised English rugby fans to ask the RFU for money back after they round out a win over Italy at Twickenham.

The Italians led 10-7 at the break after stunning their hosts with a display of sheer heart. They had a chance of a famous victory before they succumbed to a second half surge and lost 36-15, having kept it a one-score game after the hour mark. Following the match, Jones was less than classy in his interview with ITV Sport. He declared:

"I was remembering [Australian fast bowler] Trevor Chappell bowling underarm along the ground. Similar rules today. It's not a game of rugby, it ceases to be a game of rugby. "Congratulations to Italy, strategically it was smart, so well done to them. Let's be serious about it, it wasn't rugby today. "I'm not happy with what happened today. That’s not rugby. I’m not angry, I understand what they [Italy] did. But that’s not rugby."

Italy coach Conor O'Shea was informed of Jones' comments after the game. Scoffing, he replied:

"We played absolutely legally. We played to the laws."

The reaction to the Jones interview was emphatic: https://twitter.com/wlnorwood/status/835940346550972416 https://twitter.com/chjones9/status/835899941088333828 https://twitter.com/ChrisKissane/status/835908762447790080 https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby/status/835938956411817988 https://twitter.com/012pip/status/835901778021470209 https://twitter.com/jcorrigangolf/status/835905069056917504 Catch up with this week's episode of 888sport Football Friday Live