The England rugby team’s Australian coach Eddie Jones was left fuming by what he called “demeaning and disrespectful” treatment in the Australian media.
Jones was livid after a question from former Wallabies flanker Stephen Hoiles following his side’s pulsating 39-28 victory in Brisbane on Saturday, only the fourth time England had won on Australian soil.
And Jones raised exception to the wider treatment of him and his side in the buildup to the opening game of the three-match series, including the television promotion for host broadcaster Fox Sports, in which former Wallabies players made light of England’s past failings in Australia and derided its chances.
“You’ve seen the promotions… and the kind of questions we get,” the former Australia coach told reporters. “It’s quite demeaning and disrespectful to the team, so we’re not going to let this opportunity pass.
“Without a doubt we’ve been disrespected. You get that sort of ridiculous question from Hoiles. The team has been disrespected. I’m not worried about myself, I can handle myself. I don’t talk about it to the team. We talk about rugby.”
Following the game, in which England scored three tries courtesy of Jonathan Joseph, Marland Yarde and Jack Nowell along with 24 points from the boot of England fly-half Owen Farrell, Hoiles raised Jones’ heckles in the press conference.
Hoiles, who was given his international debut when Jones coached Australia, had said: “You seem to be in the press a bit more than Donald Trump this week.
“And the lads were pumped up, there was a bit of moisture out there and I think you and Glen (Ella) had a good moment, looked lubed up and a fair bit of shrinkage. How did you enjoy that moment with your old mate Glen up in the box?”
A riled Jones responded: “Sorry? Repeat the question mate, I don’t like the tone of the question mate … are we not allowed to enjoy a win mate?”
Hoiles has since apologized for the incident, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, downplaying his previous comments as “a bit of fun.”
The former player turned commentator was quoted as saying: “I’ve already apologized to Eddie and I can understand where he’s coming from, but the last thing I want to do is try and be disrespectful in that environment.”
In the buildup to the series, Fox Sports ran a promotional video in which the likes of former internationals Tim Horan and Phil Kearns mocked the tourists, who arrived after winning the Six Nations tournament for the first time since 2011.
Jones — whose Wallabies team lost the 2003 World Cup final against England — complained about being searched at customs and predicted a “coordinated” attack by his home media.
He said he expects further lambasting in the Australian press before Saturday’s second Test in Melbourne.
“There has been a row of ex-Wallaby players — you’d have Hoiles, you’ve had (Simon) Poidevin and you have had Kearns. (David) Campese has got to be somewhere. He is coming, for sure. I can see next week something is going to happen,” added the 56-year-old, who took over as England coach after impressing with Japan at the 2015 World Cup.
It was a weekend of northern versus southern hemisphere sides.
Ireland, already missing a host of key players because of injury, played for nearly an hour of its match against South Africa with just 14 players after CJ Stander was red-carded but pulled off a surprise 26-20 victory in Cape Town.
Wales led World Cup winner New Zealand after an hour before the All Blacks scored 21 unanswered points for a 39-21 victory, while Argentina defeated Italy 30-24.