Eddie Jones has insisted referees must be treated with respect after joking that Rassie Erasmus may take a leaf out of José Mourinho’s book and sidestep his matchday ban on Saturday by hiding in a laundry basket. Jones also wondered whether Erasmus’s outbursts and the siege mentality South Africa have fostered has been designed to motivate the world champions.
Erasmus, South Africa’s director of rugby, implicitly criticised the English referee, Wayne Barnes, when posting a series of clips from the narrow defeat by France this month, alongside a number of sarcastic comments. Barnes has received death threats and his family have also been targeted, leading to the Rugby Football Union sending a strongly worded letter to its South African counterpart, deploring Erasmus’s behaviour.
