‘A little pipsqueak from Paris’: Ex-Wallabies coach Alan Jones blasts French ref in wider tirade on rugby

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French referee Mathieu Raynal hbas become the centre of attention following the controversial Bledisloe Cup test in Melbourne.

Former Wallabies coach Alan Jones has labelled French referee Mathieu Raynal a “little pip-squeak from Paris” and launched a wider tirade on how match officials are ruining rugby.

The fallout to Raynal’s late decision to hit the Wallabies for time-wasting in last week’s Bledisloe Cup loss to the All Blacks continues to rage on in Australia.

The Australian reported on Sunday that Rugby Australia has issued a letter to World Rugby outlining several concerns they had with the decision.

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All Blacks coach Ian Foster has backed the call by French whistle-blower Mathieu Raynal to ping the Wallabies for time-wasting, saying it was a simple decision.

Jones, who coached the 1984 Grand Slam-winning Wallabies and oversaw a rare Bledisloe Cup success in 1986, is an outspoken media commentator who let rip at Raynal and the general state of the game.

Raynal’s decision to change an Australian penalty into an All Blacks scrum from which they scored the match-winning try to sneak a 37-34 win and retain the giant silverware didn’t sit well with Jones.

He admitted Raynal was within his rights to hit Australia’s Bernard Foley for time-wasting as the clock ticked down to fulltime, but Jones was adamant that referees are becoming too influential in a game cluttered by the rulebook.

“Is the referee buggering up the game? Undeniably, yes,’ Jones said in a Daily Mail Australia article that continues from David Campese’s recent rant about rugby referees.

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Former Wallabies coach Alan Jones is another leading rugby personality who believes referees are ruining the game.

“I have little sympathy for someone running down the clock, but by the same token you would hope that the referee would have some feeling for the game.

“This isn’t the first time a team has been penalised for time-wasting, but it’s the first time it has happened at such a crucial time in such an important game.”

The Daily Mail noted Raynal had awarded five penalties in the first five minutes in the Melbourne test and 24 in total. There were also four sin-binnings and the last-gasp decision against Foley that has drawn outrage across the Tasman.

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The Wallabies first-five believes the All Blacks had a role in the penalty being reversed.

“The referee is intent on blowing the whistle, but you can’t argue with them because there is so much rubbish in the law book,” Jones said.

“That’s why AFL is so popular. The umpires don’t have to do anything. There’s no rules in Aussie Rules. It’s non-stop action.

“In rugby the referees are ruining the game. You wire them up for sound and give them power, and they want to be the stars. That’s why you only get 32 minutes of actual play.

“Why anyone thought it was a good idea to wire them up is beyond me. You wire someone up and they’ll talk. They think that the whole world wants to hear what they’ve got to say when in actual fact no-one cares, they just want to watch some football.

“The scrums are the biggest problem. Why is a referee telling international forwards how to pack a scrum? What would he know?

“These are the best players in the world, and you’ve got this little pipsqueak from Paris telling them how to scrummage. It’s ridiculous.”

The All Blacks and Wallabies will meet again in the final round of the Rugby Championship at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.