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Japan assistant coach Tony Brown hits out at World Cup officiating

By Online Editors
Japan assistant coach Tony Brown. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

By Luke Kirkness, NZ Herald

The standard of refereeing at the Rugby World Cup has been “pretty poor”, says assistant coach of Japan, Tony Brown.

Referee decisions had been lambasted from the outset of the tournament, most recently following Wales’ victory over Australia last night.

Speaking to Martin Devlin on Newstalk ZB over the weekend, Brown, a former All Black, said he had been disappointed by the officiating.

“It’s been pretty poor so far, I think, rightly so, the criticism was deserved. We’ll see what happens from here.

“You just want them to make the right decisions and referee well and to be consistent around the head-high tackle.

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“Now, because they’ve got it so wrong in the first couple of weeks you worry that they’re going to go the other way.”

Wallabies winger Reece Hodge missed last night’s match and will miss another two after he was found guilty of a dangerous tackle charge.

A judicial hearing deemed he met the high tackle sanction threshold when he collided with Fiji forward Peceli Yato in their opening World Cup match.

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Meanwhile, two Samoan players were also handed down three-match bans following dangerous tackles they made against Russia on Tuesday.

Hodge deserved a yellow card but wasn’t given one, while Manu Samoa’s Rey Lee-Lo deserved a red card instead of a yellow, Brown said.

“That was a brutal tackle,” he told Devlin. “The [Russian] fullback, they say he ducked, he didn’t duck, he was preparing to be hit in the head.”

Brown hoped the remainder of the World Cup would continue as it had started, with referees remaining consistent around their head-high tackle decisions.

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Following their loss to Wales, Australian pundits lashed out at the performance of French referee Romain Poite.

Just before the halftime break, Welsh halfback Gareth Davies scored an intercept try, giving Wales a 23-8 lead.

The try would prove pivotal in the end, with Wales claiming a four-point victory.

Media across the ditch claimed Davies was offside, with an image doing the rounds which they believed showed him in an illegal position.

Former Wallabies hooker Phil Kearns said the decision not to check the try was a “game-changing moment”.

“The whole refereeing display has been disgraceful, not only by Romain Poite but by Skeen as well,” Kearns said on Fox Sports.

Another former Wallabies player jumped on board, labelling Poite’s decision not to check the try as “shocking”.

“If you’re going to waste five minutes of the game checking a ball carry, you’ve got to check for an offside,” he said.

“This is what happens when World Rugby make a weak statement after week one and say they’re not happy with the refereeing, you make referees paranoid, TMOs become paranoid and you get a 55-minute first 40 minutes.”

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.

“We’re gonna win the World Cup!” – Welsh fans on top of the World after Australia win:

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Trevor 1 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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