England Rugby Football Union condemn Eddie Jones for tirade at Kiwi referee

England coach Eddie Jones during a press conference after naming their team to play New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup semi-final, Tokyo, Japan. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

England's Rugby Football Union has criticised, rather than fined, its head coach Eddie Jones for his outburst towards New Zealand referee Ben O'Keeffe last weekend, saying his comments were "not in line with the values of sport".

Jones launched a tirade at O'Keefe after the Kiwi whistler sent off England midfielder Manu Tuilagi for his no arms shoulder charge which made contact with Welsh wing George North's head in the closing stages of the Six Nations game at Twickenham.

England prevailed 33-30 but finished with the game 13 men after O'Keeffe also issued England prop Ellis Genge a yellow card for repeated team infringements which allowed Wales to rally for two late tries.

Jones claimed it was "13 against 16" and then went on to attack O'Keeffe.

"I just find it bizarre," Jones said at the time. "I usually don't comment but I can't see how you can tackle a guy. You might as well just say if you tackle someone like that you let him go. How else are you supposed to tackle him? This bit about where your arms are what a load of rubbish.

"Manu was trying to kill the tackle, that was the only thing he was trying to do. Absolute rubbish. So I'm sorry, I've broken my rule. There's no commonsense applied in that situation. Clearly the guy is falling, there's a good chop tackle and Manu is coming across to kill the tackle. He's doing everything he's supposed to be doing and he gets red carded. Come on."

In a statement today the RFU stopped short of saying Jones had apologised and in what amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist said his comments were not acceptable.

"The Rugby Football Union does not condone comments that in any way undermine the integrity of match officials, who are central to the sport and its values.

"We have discussed with England head coach Eddie Jones the nature of the comments he made to the media in the immediate aftermath of a dramatic finish to the England versus Wales Guinness Six Nations match on Saturday, and have made it clear that such comments are not in line with the values of the sport or the RFU.

"Eddie and the RFU regret any implication that Ben O'Keeffe was biased in his decision making. We have outlined this position to the tournament organisers the Six Nations and World Rugby, who will pass on our apologies to Ben O'Keeffe and the match officials team.

"In the meantime, Eddie Jones and the RFU have proposed a high level discussion forum with World Rugby to help achieve greater general alignment between coaches and match officials.

"All parties are satisfied that the matter has been dealt with appropriately, are confident that further action would be taken should such a situation occur in the future, and consider the matter to be closed."

Jones is contracted to England until August 2021 and is due to meet the RFU for discussions about his future in the coming weeks.