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England pay 'frightening' ref Adamson a contact area compliment
England have paid a compliment to Mike Adamson, the referee whose ability to properly manage this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham was called into question last month following his controversial involvement in a game across the Chertsey Road at The Stoop.
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The Scottish official ignited a social media storm for some of his decisions in the Heineken Champions Cup match between Harlequins and Castres, unconvincing officiating that followed on from his red-carding earlier in January of Munster’s Simon Zebo, a decision that was overturned at a disciplinary hearing that determined the incorrect player was carded.
Stephen Jones, The Sunday Times rugby correspondent, tweeted: “Referee for Quins v Castres was alarmingly poor, Castres may as well not have bothered coming. It is frightening that the same official, Mike Adamson, is doing England v Wales. AND France v Italy. How can that be when Wayne Barnes only has one game?”
Ex-England out-half Andy Goode posted: “Got to feel for Castres, some horrific decisions have gone against them there”, a take on the refereeing performance that drew a response from Eddie O’Sullivan, the former Ireland coach.
“Keep in mind the shocking forward pass in the lead up to the 1st Pen. People wonder why coaches get so upset with referees. Most frustrating part is there are zero consequences for Mike Adamson. He is promoted to the 6 Nations despite his performance.”
Adamson was on the whistle in Paris on February 6 when France beat Italy and he will now double up in the Six Nations by taking charge of this Saturday’s England versus Wales game, a match he will arrive into on the back of a Friday media briefing compliment from Richard Cockerill, the English forwards coach who knows the Scotsman well from his time as director of rugby at Edinburgh from 2017 though to July last year.
Asked what England would be looking to do better against Wales following their opening Six Nations matches this month against Scotland and Italy, Cockerill replied: “Probably we thought we could have taken more opportunities in both games so far. We are still working hard on our attack and making sure that we play how we want to play and making sure that is really sharp.
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“But also the physical parts, we know the contest at the contact area, the set-piece area is going to be a fierce battle. Like most weeks (we are focused on) a bit of everything but certainly our attacking game is really important to us to but to do that you have to win the gain line, you have to be physical, you have to make sure that the contact area is clean. We have got a good referee for that as well who deals with the contact area well, so it should be a good contest and a quick one.
“Wales have got a big pack. From a scrum point of view, we know (Tomas) Francis well because he has played in the Premiership and there are lots of guys here that know him well. I think we are well-prepped in that part. We have just got to make sure we show a clean picture, do our jobs really well and control what we can control. As ever we want to have a keen, physical contest at the set-piece. Potentially it is a deciding factor in how the game turns out.”
Saturday is a must-win encounter if England are to maintain hopes of winning back the Six Nations title after Wales succeeded them as champions last year. “If we want to have any opportunity to win the championship we need to win all three games and that starts tomorrow, so it is an important game. We know we have to win. To win we are going to have to play very well. It is an important game if we want to have a chance to be Six Nations champions.”
Comments on RugbyPass
NOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
3 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
6 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
1 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
3 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
70 Go to commentsHas this guy been dope tested? Sounds like a case of “roid rage”.
1 Go to commentsI would like to see him say that to Eben face to face in a dark alley.
70 Go to commentsYep, lost in translation. There are arrogant people in Ireland, yes. As there are arrogant people in every country, but as a nation, arrogance is not a general characteristic in Ireland. There has not really had a strong representation for any global sport over the years, and hence arrogance is not endemic to Irish people in this regard. I seriously doubt that was said or meant by 12 or 13 players. If it was said, it would have been said in jest and to pay Etzebeth and the Springboks a compliment for how hard fought the game was.
70 Go to commentsOne of the few Bidwell articles I can agree with. If coaches played their players through niggles and consistently played them 80mins then you could make an argument for resting protocols - they obviously don’t and are incredibly responsible, let’s give up the resting nonsense and let the boys play.
3 Go to commentsDaniel Gallan, please for the love of all that is holy, stop writing about rugby. Or at the very least stop telling people you are South African.
21 Go to commentsThis Dr.Rassie 6-2 filth is spreading. We need to ask World Rugby to ban something
1 Go to commentsPity he couldn’t call him a liar to his face, such a brave man.
70 Go to comments“You ain’t counting to 12 or 13 straight after a game, son!” Just because you don’t doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t “I reckon if anyone said it they would have said, ‘Hopefully, see you in the final’.” Oh, you “reckon”, do you? You weren’t there, you weren’t part of the conversation but you know what was said… Id10T
70 Go to commentsNZ has such a rich history of quality number nines, and woman beaters.
1 Go to commentsThat’s what happens when you are scared of scrums
2 Go to commentsWhats interesting now is the evolution of rugby. More and more the laws are favouring the team in possession and the ball carrier. Teams can keep the ball for longer periods more than ever before with little risk and wear down defences as long as they don’t knock it on. Set pieces are seen as hindrances and as time wasting annoyances by law makers and they are being depowered as lawmakers strive for higher ball in play time. Perhaps its only natural then that teams will take a more assertive and aggressive approach in defence. An offensive defence as you said Nick. This may force errors and turnovers and help teams to break up attacking plays while providing counterattacking prospects. Perhaps we will see more and more teams adopt the blitz in the next 4 year cycle and beyond much like Gegenpress has met Tiki Taka in football. Instead of Pep and Klopp we will have Farrell and Nienaber.
25 Go to commentsArrogant entitled prick with a huge chip on its shoulder
5 Go to commentsApparently the only ppl Scotland can beat are their spouses…thank you / good night!
6 Go to comments