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The disciplinary review of Rassie Erasmus’ video rant against referees should have already happened, says England coach and former Wallabies boss Eddie Jones.
Jones, in an interview with the BBC, said he feared Erasmus’ actions could adversely affect grassroots rugby and called it “disrespectful”.
The Springboks boss’ hour-long critique of the match officials came during the recent series against the British and Irish Lions.
The disciplinary process against Erasmus is ongoing.
“It should be dealt with quickly,” Jones told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“We need to make sure that we have respect in the game because we are asking kids to be respectful to the referee, and if they see examples of players or coaches being disrespectful to the referee it gives them an excuse to do it at their level.”
Jones said there was an “appropriate way” to give feedback about officials, while agreeing there were some problems in the way rugby union is currently being officiated.
“I think the game is in a good place but we have to be careful and I think there are some issues in the game we need to look at very carefully and I think one of them is the diligence of the referees to referee the important part of the game well,” Jones said.
“Rassie made his famous video and I don’t think that is correct, but we need to make sure the referees work as a three a lot harder than they do at the moment to ensure that particularly at the breakdown we get what we need to get, which is a fair contest between contest and continuity.
“But there is an appropriate way to do it, and that is being respectful to the referee.”
Jones meanwhile backed the level of ‘contest’ in the Springboks-Lions series despite external criticism from the likes of New Zealander Steve Hansen.
“I thought it was a great contest, but it was all about the contest and there was no continuity in the game,” Jones added.
“If there were crowds we might have remembered them as good contests, but because it was in front of no crowds it lacked a bit of emotion.
“The rugby wasn’t fantastic, but that’s Lions series’ isn’t it?
“We shouldn’t get too despondent that we think the game is in the wrong direction. The game will bounce back. The one thing we know about rugby is that it is resilient.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.