England head coach Eddie Jones criticised the behaviour of Scotland fans after a member of his coaching staff was hit by a plastic bottle and captain Owen Farrell was booed.
Farrell was jeered as he lined up goal-kicks during England’s 13-6 Six Nations victory at a storm-hit Murrayfield.
Jones said high performance manager Neil Craig was hit on the head by a plastic beer bottle before kick-off.
“We weren’t expecting bottles to be thrown – that’s a new trick,” he said.
“You’ve got to be pretty brave to throw a beer bottle. It’s not good behaviour, is it?”
A Scottish Rugby spokesperson said: “An empty, plastic bottle landed near the team bus as England arrived. All the England players had already entered the stadium at that point.
“The matter was raised with the England team manager pre-match by a member of Scottish Rugby staff and an apology extended. There is no evidence the bottle was thrown or intended to hit any individual.”
Rugby crowds traditionally remain silent when a player kicks at goal and an announcement over the public address system urged spectators to show respect.
“Rugby did have a culture of being respectful and having respect for the kicker,” said Jones.
“So if we don’t want to have that, if there’s a new level of respect in Scotland, we’ve got to put up with it.
“If that’s how the Scottish fans are going to be respectful we have to acknowledge it and just get on with it.”
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend, asked about Farrell’s treatment by the crowd, said: “At a lot of venues around the world the crowd will make noise.
“We certainly stress that respecting the kicker is something we believe in but it’s no different I imagine than what happened at the Stade de France last week.”
Two years ago, Jones found himself on the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse from a handful of Scotland supporters the day after England’s 25-13 loss at Murrayfield.
He encountered trouble at a Manchester railway station and then on the train to London, having broken his journey to watch Manchester United beat Chelsea at Old Trafford.
‘We stuck at it and our attitude was good’
Having lost to France in Paris last weekend England revived their Six Nations title ambitions thanks to Ellis Genge’s match-winning try.
Both sides had to play in terrible conditions as Storm Ciara battered Murrayfield with ferocious winds and driving rain.
“Apart from 15 minutes we dominated the game,” Jones said. “We had a few poor kicks but we dominated possession and we finished it off which we didn’t do last week.
“There is a lot of growth for us. I underprepared the side for the first game but we’ll get stronger as the weeks go on.”
Farrell, who uncharacteristically missed three out of six goal-kicks, praised his side’s performance.
“To come up here with the conditions and the atmosphere, we knew it would be tough,” he said. “We stuck at it and our attitude was good throughout.
“The wind was unpredictable and it made the ball go out on the full a few times but the most pleasing thing was our attitude. We grew as the game went on.”
England next face Ireland at Twickenham on 23 February, with Andy Farrell’s team top of the standings after their victory over Wales in Dublin earlier on Saturday.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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