Eddie takes a pop at Nigel

[OB..]

Yes but WR don't. RWC are counted as neutral venues

That is for the purposes of the ranking system. In reality, Japan playing in Tokyo is most definitely a home game!

[L'irlandais]

Yeah, irrespective of whether statistically it was considered a home game, Japan enjoyed home advantage. (Able to spend the week in their own bed and travel into camp. Home crowd there in numbers and being very vocal....). Just ask the Irish squad if it felt like a neutral venue.

In a time when WR is trying to change the game’s image and improve tackle safety, I am pretty sure Eddies “hit ‘n hurt” comments are as unwelcome as his opinion on match referees. In any case Eddie’s last defeat was at a neutral venue, so what’s he on about? Given that most news websites are talking about the tensions in the England camp over the Saracens’ thing, Mr. Jones is clearly trying to deflect attention from the real issue. Non-story really, and the Saracens’ issue remains a very real issue. Deal with it EJ.

[Shelflife]

Its Eddie being Eddie, however he seems to be calling NO integrity or professionalism into question. Now im not the biggest NO fan out there but you simply cant call his integrity of professionalism into question.

I think the authorities should call Eddie in to account for his comments, preferably on a day that least suits him and ask him to explain his comments. He may well say that he was talking about the stats and the stats dont lie and he was merely stating facts , but it should be made very clear to him that he is walking a very thin line.

[Taff]

How do Nigels Owens' stats compare to other top referees like say Wayne Barnes?

Personally, I just think it's Eddie Jones playing his usual mind games again.

[Marc Wakeham]

Indeed. "Coach lines up his excuses ready". Nothing to see here.

[crossref]

But 91% home wins though ....

[L'irlandais]

Do you have a link for that stat?
It’d be interesting to see what it is based on. NO (48) has referee’d more than 97 test matches. For example, How many of those were considered neutral venues?

Wayne Barnes’ (40) tally came to 90 test matches with the WRC match Wales v New Zealand. He retired after the tournament.

Robbie previously compiled partial statistics for RWC 2011, however to do so for comparison of the long careers of the current elite referee panel would be an enormous task. To identify trends and understand their significance, we need to compare like with like. Same statistics taken into account for each referee, not widespread stats gleaned over the WWW.

Bearing in mind that home advantage is a thing in rugby union. Teams tend to win at home irrespective of who referees the match. So factors other than the man in the middle clearly are in play here.

[L'irlandais]

I cannot find the thread about number of referees decisions per match, but it was something like 220 decisions (including non-decisions of immaterial play on). Some 20% of those are incorrect. Few of the wrong decisions however are controversial, ie having an influence on the result of the match. We would need access to their assessors’ notes to see if particular referees were being influenced by vocal home crowds. Nigel is a bit of a crowd pleaser, but to what extent that influences his decisions is hard to say. Wayne Barnes goes to the opposite extreme, any attempts to sway his judgment, have a tendency to provoke an opposite decision to the one looked for.

Controversial is a big word too, as supporters are never very impartial in their views. Some quite correct decisions can be viewed as controversial by fans, but not by his assessor. I would say the number of incorrect decisions that actually had an influence on the result of the match, which were picked up on, are in fact quite negligible.

Since nobody will ever take the time to compile that information, let’s consider this
Nigel Owens made some 4268 incorrect decisions, as above, in his test career. He certainly hasn’t had controversy in each and every test match he has refereed. So less than 100 of those incorrect decisions had an influence on the result. Out of a total of 21,340 test match decisions that is a negligible figure. Quod erat demonstrandum.

[L'irlandais]

Also the fact Japan (for example) can enjoy home advantage, and statistically it is noted as a neutral venue, shows how hopeless it is to rely on stats. Maybe Eddie Jones would do us a favour and stop trying to be as controversial as Brendan Venter. Eddie Jones was at Saracens many years ago, even with the excessive money he couldn’t win.

[Ian_Cook]

Eddie is using statistics the same way that a drunk uses a lamp post.

For the record, in the Six Nations, % wins at home

England 85%
Ireland 78%
France 75%
Wales 66%
Scotland 44%
Whipping Boys 20%

Eddie's BS is not as dramatic as he is trying to claim