Eddie Jones has sought to draw a line under the derogatory comments made about Ireland and Wales heading into England's final Six Nations match.
Former Wallabies coach Jones was forced to apologise on Wednesday night after footage emerged of the Australian referring to the newly-crowned champions as the "scummy Irish" and Wales as a "little s*** country" during a talk on leadership given last year.
Speaking publicly on the matter for the first time on Thursday at England's team announcement ahead of Saturday's clash with Ireland, Jones refused to expand on his remarks beyond issuing a further apology.
"I'd just like to say I've apologised for the remarks. I sincerely mean that," Jones said.
"I really don't have anything else to say on the matter. I 'm happy to obviously answer questions on a fantastic game that's coming up but I think the other matter is dead.
"I've made the statement, I don't need to say anything else on it. I think I've made every statement that I need to make on it."
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has received an apology from the Rugby Football Union.
And Jones insisted the comments will have little influence on the desire of Joe Schmidt's men to complete only the third tournament clean sweep in their history.
"Ireland are preparing for a Grand Slam, they don't need any extra motivation," Jones said.
Asked if he will reconsider giving similar talks in future, Jones replied: "Ah, possibly, yeah. It's something I'll reconsider after the game, the only thing I am worried about at the moment is the game."
Wales coach Warren Gatland said he was unsure if the remarks would hurt Jones' chances of leading the British & Irish Lions to South Africa in 2021.
"I don't know, we all say things behind closed doors. I have said on a couple of occasions that if he gets the opportunity he will do a good job," Kiwi Gatland said.
"It is not offensive to us. Those sorts of things happen, I will let Eddie take care of that in his own press conference."
Share
