World Cup Watch: Wallabies Consult Steve Hansen

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has explained that he wants advice from New Zealand World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen ahead of the World Cup in France.

The Sydney Morning Herald said Jones asked Hansen to observe the Wallabies for a week and to give feedback on training quality and leadership.

"I've coached against Steve since 1998, so we've got a long relationship, enjoy each other's company, and I thought we always wanted this week to be a reset week for us.

"We've been through the Rugby Championship, done our Australian responsibilities, and now it's a reset, so we've brought in Steve to have a look at what we're doing.

"It's purely like a mate, coming in, having a beer" 'What do you think, where can we improve?'

"There are two main areas: training quality, which is our way of improving, and leadership of the team. So Steve is having a look at both those areas.

"Every time he speaks there is some wisdom in what he says. When he says something, we are listening to him and how we can improve what we are doing, we are looking to see if we can use his advice to do that."

Jones lent a hand to South Africa's World Cup win in 2007, having been the Australian coach when England beat them in the 2003 final.

 

South African referee Jaco Peyper will control the France v New Zealand Rugby World Cup opener in Paris on September 8. Peyper also refereed the opening game of the 2015 tournament in England between the hosts and Fiji.

England's Luke Pearce will referee New Zealand v Namibia in Toulouse on September 15, while Matthew Carley will be on the whistle when the All Blacks play Italy in Lyon on September 29. Wayne Barnes will also referee the October 5 game against Uruguay in Lyon.

New Zealand referee Ben O'Keefe's first game will be France v Uruguay on September 14 in Lille, while two days later, Paul Williams will referee Samoa v Chile in Bordeaux.

Williams' second game is Georgia v Portugal at Toulouse on September 23, while on the same day, O'Keefe will referee South Africa v Ireland.

On September 30 in Nantes, Williams will referee Argentina v Chile. In Nantes on October 8, O'Keefe will referee Japan v Argentina.

 

World Rugby successfully appealed against the dismissal of England's five-eighths Owen Farrell's red card.

He has been banned for four games for his high tackle on Wales player Taine Basham. The appeal committee said the original judicial committee should have considered the attempt of the player to wrap his opponent in the tackle. They said they hadn't done that.

The tackle was 'always illegal', they said.

Farrell will miss England's first two pool games against Argentina and Japan in France.

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