Enraged Eddie Jones takes swipe at all of South Africa in heated exchange
Eddie Jones’ return to Australia was not the fairytale he was wanting, as South Africa coasted to a 43-12 win over the Wallabies in Pretoria on Saturday.
He may have been with a new team, but it was the same old Jones in the build up to the match, where he accused Jacques Nienaber’s side, that was missing a number of their frontline stars, of being “undercooked” and that the Wallabies were not playing the best Springboks side. Well those comments certainly came back to bite him, and some South African journalists were not going to miss the opportunity to rub it in.
One journalist raised that point after the match, and it did not go down well with the Australian as he took a swipe at seemingly all South African rugby supporters. Who replied: “I tell you what mate, South Africans are good at winning. So you don’t have to be a smart-arse mate.
“We were well and truly beaten today by a Springboks side that our mate’s [pointing to the journalist] calling the B team. I never knew there was a Springboks side that was called the B team, but now we have a new term.”
This altercation carried on after the press conference, with Jones saying as he left the room: “You don’t have to be a smart-arse mate, you don’t have to be a smart-arse. You should have more respect mate, you should have more respect.”
This might well be the case of Jones deflecting the attention from his side’s tepid performance, after a match where there was a lot of promise of a new era.
The Wallabies now have a week to try and turn things around ahead of a visit from Argentina in round two of the Rugby Championship in Sydney. The Pumas also suffered a chastening 41-12 loss to the All Blacks at home, so will also be looking to bounce back.
Take a look at the altercation:
Test Rugby is tough. pic.twitter.com/qyymVMHalf
— Lunga ibn Kupiso (@Lunga_Kupiso) July 8, 2023
