England's rugby tour of Australia may be taking place in the shadow of Euro 2016 but it, too, could be about to turn nasty
Coach Eddie Jones has rounded on the Australian media, saying their treatment of his side had been "disgusting”, “demeaning” and “disrespectful”.
He was particularly angered by a question in the press conference after the first Test on Saturday, which England won 38-28.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
The former Australia coach, who took over the England side last year, "took exception to a crude question that appeared to contain sexual innuendo from former Wallaby flanker Stephen Hoiles", reports the Daily Telegraph.
Player turned pundit Hoiles accused Jones and his assistant, Glen Ella, of appearing "lubed up" during the game and, after several other insinuations, asked: "How did you enjoy that moment with your old mate Glen up in the box?"
Jones, clearly taken aback, replied: "I don't like the tone of the question, mate... Are we not allowed to enjoy a win, mate?"
The incident was "awkward", says the Sydney Morning Herald, which claims Hoiles, who used to play for Jones in Australia, later apologised by email. "Members of the touring English press believed the question was out of line and borderline offensive," adds the paper.
Mick Cleary of the Telegraph was decidedly unimpressed. "[Jones] was once again subjected to public digs and slights on Saturday, fending off and then biting back at puerile goads about his try-celebrations," he says.
"If an Englishman had come out with some of the mickey-taking, patronising and pompous flim-flam that has been directed the way of Jones and his team, then the locals would have quickly been reaching for those cliched terms of 'English arrogance'. If others do it, with that mocking, sneering tone, highlighting how England have struggled here down the years and the Wallabies thrived, then it is depicted either as harmless banter."
As for Jones, having made his feelings clear, he added: "I don't talk about that to the team. We talk about rugby."
And there was plenty to talk about after a fine win for England, their first ever victory over Australia in Brisbane, which came 18 years after they were beaten 76-0.
England played with "a hardness, an edge, a bit of devil, too", says Cleary in the Telegraph.
They must now go on to win the series, says Ben Kay in The Times, and there is no reason they can't. "One of the huge positives was that England were duffed up for the first 20 minutes and yet they managed to arrest the slide, which took a lot of bottle given what happened against Australia in the World Cup," he says.
