'If that happened to us... we would be kicking ourselves. And we'd take full responsibility'
Wales’ first try against England at the weekend was a point of contention between Jamie Roberts and Dylan Hartley on RugbyPass Offload. Christina Mahon, Roberts and Hartley were joined by Wales flanker Dan Lydiate in the wake of a Test match that had two highly controversial tries in the third round of the Six Nations.
The opening try of the match came courtesy of a cross-field kick from Dan Biggar to Josh Adams only moments after referee Pascal Gaüzère had said that play was back on after telling England captain Owen Farrell to talk to his team.
The Welsh centre believes England switched off in this instance, and while the referee should have communicated with Farrell, he never indicated that Wales were going for goal.
But the former England captain feels the referee restarted the game without telling Farrell, which “doesn’t happen in rugby”.
“I see no problem whatsoever with that cross-field kick,” Roberts said. “I thought it was very smart play by Dan Biggar. If that happened to us, and certainly when Dan and I played with the defensive leaders we had in that Welsh side for many years, we would be kicking ourselves if we turned our backs and the ref hadn’t pointed to the sticks. And we’d take full responsibility.
“Certainly playing under Shaun Edwards, he made us very aware that you watch out for quick taps, Kieran Hardy scored a try from one, and you watch out for those penalties. Until the ref has signalled to the posts, you do not switch off. Now I think it was lazy defence from England, I think they can have no complaints.
“I know the argument that if you’ve got a ref telling you to speak to your team, he should then give you the opportunity to come back, but Dan Biggar is a very smart player and he asked a question ‘let me know when time’s back on’. Bang, blows the whistle, thank you very much.
“So I just don’t think England have got an argument on that one. The knock-on, shoe’s on the other foot. I think that’s a clear knock-on, and how he can’t give that I’m bemused.
“There was a moment when Biggs has said ‘can you let me know when time is back on?’ that the ref looks over to the England squad, looks at his whistle and just blows it. That was the time for the ref to go ‘Owen, I’m going to put play back on, I’m ready now,’ and he didn’t and I think he probably should have. But even still, my argument is that he didn’t point to the sticks.”
Hartley responded with his take on the series of events that led to the try: “As a captain, if the ref says ‘talk to your team, time is off,’ you bring your team in. There’s only a couple of times you bring your team in, in a game, that’s one if there’s a bad injury, where time is off and the water carrier’s on the field, you all come in and have a chit-chat and then the game gets back to life. The other time is when the ref tells you to talk to your team. He told Owen to do that, Owen brings his team in, and he’s basically started the game without letting the opposition captain know.
“So at kick-off time, the ref looks to the opposition captain, goes ‘you alright?’ and you go ‘yes,’ he looks to the other captain and goes ‘you alright?’ and he goes ‘yes,’ and he starts the game. That is usually how the game restarts after that sort of moment.
“How the hell are you supposed to talk to your team and then get back into a position of strength?
“I think, as a ref trying to work with two captains, it’s like he didn’t want to work with Owen, he didn’t want to give him a chance which I think is unfair.
"As the doctor came on I put more weight on my leg and it just buckled"
– @dan_lydiate guested on this week's RugbyPass Offload talking ACL, his emotional @WelshRugbyUnion comeback and his fleeting time working with Wayne Pivac#sixnations https://t.co/RndUnOtsBU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 5, 2021
“Even with the second try, I’ve seen those given in rugby. He lost control of the ball, knocked it on, knocked it back, I don’t care. Those things happen in rugby. But the first thing, that doesn’t happen in rugby.
“In such a controversial moment in a game, the fourth official goes very quiet.”
Dan Lydiate describes the euphoric feeling of winning a Lions test series in Australia and what unfolded in the following days and hours ? #BritishAndIrishLions @ChristinaMahonx @dan_lydiate @DylanHartley @Jamiehuwroberts pic.twitter.com/vvTVWY5Mce
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 5, 2021
Lydiate also offered his opinion, understanding why England feel aggrieved but also highlighting that Biggar is always looking for such a kick.
“It depends which side you sit on the Severn Bridge,” the flanker said when asked whether the try should have been allowed. “I don’t think Liam Williams’ try was a try, personally. But I know from experience playing with Biggs that he’s always looking out for that.
“As soon as he can, if the English guys have not got in place quick enough, he’s going to have a sniff for it.
“But from an English perspective, you’re going to be tamping, because Owen Farrell didn’t get a clear signal, that’s what he was protesting.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell 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.
14 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?
11 Go to comments