The most controversial international rugby refereeing decisions ever
Rugby referees are just as important to the game of rugby as the players themselves. Without the man in the middle, the game would fall apart.
If a player has a bad game, it’s not the end of the world, there are 14 others to make up for them. On the flip side, if the referee has a bad game, it could affect the entire outcome of the match.
Check out the most controversial rugby refereeing decisions below:
5) Craig Joubert – Scotland vs Australia 2015 RWC
Possibly the first time Twickenham has ever unanimously sung ‘Flower of Scotland’.
Scotland entered this game as major underdogs against the mighty Wallabies. This did not stop them from going hammer and tongs at the men in gold, however.
As the clock turned 78, it was tight with Scotland leading the way at 34-32. It was then that Joubert made the huge decision, giving Australia the penalty to win the game.
The ball had come over a Scottish shoulder, to be caught instinctively by Jon Welsh recovering himself from an offside position.
Whilst this was the correct decision, it didn’t stop those hardy Scots from being outraged about missing out on the final by those tight margins.
4) Wayne Barnes – New Zealand vs France 2007 RWC
In 2007 the All Blacks were once again red hot favourites to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy. This would have been the first time since the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup.
They lined up against old rivals France in the quarter-finals on a wet windy Cardiff night. The men in black started well, showing their dominance again the French outfit.
Things started to go south midway through the game though, as the French side started to work their magic.
It was what happened in the 67th minute that turned the game from the normal to the utterly impossible.
Freddie Michalak had come on to the field to inject some of his magic and found himself free along the left touchline after a blatant forward pass from Damien Traille. This led to a wonderful offload from Michalak to allow Yannick Jauzion to go over the line and put the French in front.
Despite the obviousness of the pass, the try was allowed to stand, and New Zealand ended up being dumped out of the competition.
3) Pascal Gauzere – England vs Wales 2021 Six Nations
This game had it all. Superstar wingers, controversy, and a trophy win.
Looking at the controversies in particular though, the referee more than stole the show.
First up young winger Louis Rees-Zammit appeared to knock the ball forwards with his right hand before the ball hit his leg and went backwards. This enabled Liam Williams to then pick the ball up and run through to score under the posts.
Rugby fans were screaming for a knock-on. Even the Welsh weren’t expecting the try to stand. After a long look at the video footage, the try stood. Even Rees-Zammit was pictured with a look of shock on his face.
The ruling was that even though the ball went forwards off of his hand, because it then went backwards off of his leg before it touched the ground, it was not deemed as a knock-on.
Later on in that game, Dan Biggar used all of his year’s worth of experience to catch England napping.
Gauzere had instructed captain Owen Farrell to go back and speak to his team, but whilst the England squad were in a huddle Biggar asked Gauzere if time was back on. With his go-ahead, Biggar launched a cross-field kick for electric winger Josh Adams to catch and put down.
There was fury from the England supporters as they firmly believed their squad had not been given enough time to re-group.
Gauzere has since admitted his mistakes and retired from international refereeing just a few months later.
2) Alain Rolland – England vs South Africa 2007 RWC
England had not been performing well in this tournament. After getting thumped by South Africa in the group stages, the underperforming men in white somehow squeezed their way to the final.
Having won the tournament in 2003, they know how to win big games in big tournaments.
This time around it was not to be for the English side, as the South Africans showed the excellence they possessed to bring the trophy home for the first time in 12 years.
The controversial moment that English fans still hang onto happened early on in the second half as the scores were tight.
Mark Cueto caught the ball off of a cheeky flick pass from Jonny Wilkinson on the left-hand wing and went over in the corner, which if converted would have seen the reigning champions take the lead.
The finest margins stopped this from happening however, with Cueto’s left foot scraping the paint of the touchline by millimetres. 15 years on and the English faithful will happily tell you that it was a try, but the only opinion that mattered was Alain Rolland. His decision was no try.
1) Romain Poite – British and Irish Lions vs New Zealand 2017
After defeating Australia in their own backyard back in 2013, the British and Irish Lions found themselves against the reigning world cup champions New Zealand. Arguably the toughest of all their opponents.
The tour was currently a win-a-piece coming into the final of the 3 games.
With the scores tied 15-15 in the 78th minute, Romaine Poite blew up for an offside call against the Lions in their own half. This was initially thought to be a penalty, which would have given the All Blacks the opportunity to kick to win the game.
After a TMO decision however, this was reversed to just a scrum on the basis that the offending player did not intend to play the ball, resulting in an accidental offside call.
Consequently, the All Blacks failed to score any more points and the game ended 15-15 with the series being a tie, much to the dismay of the All Blacks fans.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
13 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
13 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to comments