Wallaby coach Eddie Jones has defended Brumbies captain George Gregan after the Australian skipper was labelled as "arrogant" by Waratahs coach Bob Dwyer after their Super 12 game in Sydney on Saturday.

South African referee Andy Turner penalised Gregan for constant "back-chatting" during the game and this led to Dwyer's comments. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Jones, who attended a Waratahs training session on Monday, disagreed with the criticism.

"I've had George as captain last year at the Brumbies and on tour for the Wallabies and I've found him to be an outstanding captain," Jones said. "He might have had his problems with the referee on Saturday night but those things can be sorted out."

Jones regularly visits the Super 12 sides but denied his informal meeting with Dwyer at the training session covered the Gregan affair. "Not at all, it's a province to province business. We might have had a social chat but nothing on any formal basis," he said.

Jones conceded Gregan's (pictured) continual remonstrations with Turner would have been fuelled by frustration at the Brumbies' third straight loss. "No doubt about it," Jones said. "Both sides probably found it frustrating, and the Brumbies more so. It's always more frustrating when you're in a game that's very stop-start and you're not playing well."

Despite the grinding nature of the match, Jones believes more can expected later in the year when the players are on international duty.

"The sort of rugby played in Super 12 is distinctly different from Test football in nearly all the games," Jones said. "The only games we're going to see that are close to Test football are the [Super 12] finals and that game on Saturday night, which was that really close contact, brawling hand-to-hand type of game."

Australian sides now hold three of the top four spots: the Waratahs second, Brumbies third and Reds fourth.

However, Jones thinks the true test for both the Super 12 sides and potential Wallabies begins now.
With the poor performance of the South African teams this year, the coming Super 12 contests against the New Zealand provincial sides will offer the clearest guide.

"I think the next three weeks are more important," he said. "There's been two distinct stages of the Super 12 - the part where you play against the South African sides and the part where you play against the Australian and New Zealand sides - and all of our teams are going into ... that more intense stage."