LONDON • England coach Eddie Jones tried to make his frustration clear while refusing to criticise referee Pascal Gauzere following the Six Nations champions' 40-24 loss away to Wales on Saturday.
Defeat in what the Australian had labelled a "make-or-break" third-round fixture all but ended England's hopes of retaining their title following their opening loss to Scotland at Twickenham.
Wales earned the Triple Crown, having previously beaten Ireland and the Scots, and remain on course for the Grand Slam after beating the Red Rose decisively.
But their highest Test score against England featured two first-half tries controversially awarded by Gauzere, the first of which former Wales captain Sam Warburton said would have left him "livid".
That opening try came from a quickly-taken penalty, with Dan Biggar cross-kicking to wing Josh Adams while skipper Owen Farrell, at the French official's request, was still talking to England about their discipline.
The build-up to Liam Williams' try appeared to feature a knock-on by Louis Rees-Zammit, but that score stood after Gauzere consulted the television match official.
Jones, while acknowledging Wales were "worthy winners", labelled Gauzere's early try calls as "huge decisions".
"We can't debate it, we are not allowed to debate it. All I will end up with is a fine and that won't help anyone," he said. "The dog won't be able to eat its food, wife won't be able to eat, so I can't say anything."
If rugby union's complex rule book meant there was a debate over whether Rees-Zammit had in fact knocked on, England received sympathy from an unexpected quarter regarding Wales' first try.
"You cannot respond within half a second of (Gauzere) saying, 'time back on' when you're in the middle of a conversation with your team," said pundit Warburton. "I'd be livid if I was Owen Farrell and England."
For all their early setbacks, England recovered to level the match at 24-24 heading into the final quarter.
However, indiscipline, long a problem for England, then saw them concede 16 unanswered points, with Wales replacement fly-half Callum Sheedy kicking three penalties before Cory Hill's try sealed a bonus-point win.
"There were times we gave away penalties we shouldn't have, it was just from the effort and sometimes, you get in situations where emotionally you struggle because of the circumstances and you try too hard," said Jones, whose team conceded 14 penalties.
"We take full responsibility and don't blame the referee... It's a great lesson for us."
Earlier, Italy fell to their 30th consecutive Six Nations defeat with a punishing 48-10 loss to an improved Ireland side who had six tries en route to their first win this campaign.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
