England head coach Eddie Jones is determined to bring an end to the continuous stoppages that are diminishing the appeal of the game in time for next year’s World Cup.
Jones plans to convene a group of leading coaches, players and referees in the autumn with the aim of removing the repeated pauses in play caused by overuse of the TMO, draconian policing of high tackles, pedantic officiating of the set-piece and drinks breaks.
Union’s declining ball-in-play time was highlighted when Queensland and New South Wales met in a high-octane series decider on Wednesday and Jones admits he has “had enough” of the delays that are harming the spectacle.
When asked if the growing number of stoppages was the biggest issue facing the sport, Jones replied: “Definitely. Definitely.
“We’ve got to keep the game safe, don’t get me wrong, but accidental head contact and this incessant use of the TMO, we’ve got to cut that out.
“We’ve got to get a better balance in the game. We’ve gone to trying to play everything absolutely right like it’s a tennis game.
“Every decision has to be right, but we need to get back to having a rhythm and a flow in the game.
“You watch that Origin game and there was a natural flow and rhythm in it. Rugby, when it’s played at its best and we have the laws at the right level, we get that natural flow and rhythm in the game. But we don’t have it at the moment.
“Every time we get a flow in the game, there’s a stoppage. We go back. Someone has taken out someone.
“We need to get everyone on the same page and start moving towards the game we really want. We’ve just gone too far down one road.
“We can’t blame the referees. The referees, coaches and players need to get together and say ‘this is the game we want’.”
Jones was speaking ahead of Saturday’s series decider against Australia with the first two Tests alone producing five yellow cards – two of them for deliberate knock-ons – and one red.
On the same day that England were compiling a 25-17 victory over the Wallabies, Ireland defeated New Zealand 23-12 in a chaotic Test in Dunedin that saw replacement prop Angus Ta’avao sent off for a dangerous tackle in a 15-minute spell in which his teammates Leicester Fainga’anuku and Ofa Tu’ungafasi were sin-binned.
“I’m certainly going to be pushing for this because I’ve had enough. I don’t want to see a New Zealand-Ireland game like that ever again, where we don’t even know how many people are supposed to be on the field,” Jones said.
“They get it wrong and they still don’t right it. That’s not the referees’ fault, it’s what they’re being pushed to do, so we have to get that right.
“Otherwise imagine the next World Cup … you play a quarter-final, you get a red card and two yellows, you’re down to 12 men and it’s just ridiculous.
“Line-outs can be tidied up, scrums can be tidied up and as long as the referees get the mandate to do it, they’ll do it. And coaches will go along with it. But it’s got to be clear and it’s got to be concise. Let’s get the game going.”
Jones hit back at Nic White after the veteran Australia scrum-half said he was surprised at the level of niggle coming from England during the first two Tests.
“I hardly think he’s entitled to make that comment. He’s the biggest niggler of all time, isn’t he?” Jones said.
“That does make me laugh – the boy who niggles everyone, complaining about niggle. That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.”
England have made three changes for the decisive third Test at Sydney Cricket Ground, choosing Danny Care instead of Jack van Poortvliet at scrum-half and starting lock Ollie Chessum and flanker Lewis Ludlam in place of the injured Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill.
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 (Tosun 9', Doucoure 93')
Rotherham United 1 (Olosunde 56')
Man of the Match Olosunde (Rotherham)
New schools in Dubai
ASHES FIXTURES
1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8
Elvis
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ABU%20DHABI%20CARD
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday
AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)
Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)
Benevento v Parma (5pm)
Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)
Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)
Lazio v Spezia (5pm)
Napoli v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)
Torino v Juventus (8pm)
Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)
SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
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Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
