Joe Schmidt offers candid views on referee for Ireland's match with Japan
Joe Schmidt has heaped the pressure on referee Angus Gardner ahead of Ireland’s World Cup clash with hosts Japan on Saturday.
Head coach Schmidt claimed the last time Gardner refereed Ireland proved “incredibly frustrating”, intimating his side were unduly punished during March’s 25-7 Six Nations loss to Wales in Cardiff that sealed the hosts’ Grand Slam.
Japan have spent the week claiming Cian Healy angles in illegally at the scrum, with not only prop Yusuke Kizu calling out their opponents but also head coach Jamie Joseph backing the Brave Blossoms’ suspicion.
Ireland boss Schmidt was nonplussed by those claims, pointing to his side’s low set-piece penalty count as confirmation of their clean approach.
“Obviously last time we had Angus (Gardner) it wasn’t great for us,” said Schmidt.
Continued below…
“We didn’t play particularly well but we didn’t feel we got a lot of the rub of the green from Angus either.
“I think if you look back at the scrum, we actually went straight through the middle of the Welsh scrum to get a turnover ball very early in the game.
“And then when they ran around the corner we got no receipt (of penalties) from that and they were given penalty rewards, which was incredibly frustrating.”
Schmidt rarely offers candid views on referees other than to stress Ireland’s hard graft to concede as few penalties as possible, which all feeds into his intense demands for accuracy from his players.
Ireland fell foul of the penalty count in Saturday’s comprehensive 27-3 win over Scotland in the Pool A opener in Yokohama, where Wayne Barnes took the whistle.
Samoa's Motu Matu’u has appeared before a disciplinary hearing but doesn't yet know the decision https://t.co/WwKq209uig
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 26, 2019
Schmidt has lamented what he considers heavy punishment in that contest too, especially given his side’s near total control of proceedings.
World Rugby this week issued a stinging statement hitting out at the standard of World Cup refereeing, with the officials having failed to issue the correct punishments for a string of big incidents.
Australia’s Reece Hodge has since been handed a three-week ban after a disciplinary hearing for a head-high shot on Peceli Yato, that tackle leaving the Fiji star concussed and out of the match.
Samoa centre Rey Lee-Lo and hooker Motu Matu’u face disciplinary hearings too for high shots that only yielded yellow cards in their win over Russia.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B233C0bIxkG/
In the wake of the World Rugby statement, however, Schmidt now expects all the officials to raise their game.
Add the context of him raising previous frustrations with Saturday’s referee Gardner and this is Schmidt leaving the Australian official on notice that his performance this weekend will be under greater scrutiny than perhaps ever before.
Asked if Sunday’s penalty count against Scotland proved a consternation, Schmidt said: “Yes, it was annoying and surprising considering that a lot of what we did we felt we were kind of on top in that game.
“I think that the officials are going to be as nailed on as they possibly can be and Angus is no different from any other official this weekend.
“They’re going to be looking to be as accurate as they possibly can be, and I think that’s the whole team of four.
How the RugbyPass World Cup power rankings shape up after the end of the first week of the finals in Japan https://t.co/Dx0XYIf5al
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 26, 2019
“We saw a couple of citings from the game in our pool on Tuesday evening where the officials as a team decided they were yellow cards and then they were cited later as red cards. So nobody is really operating in isolation now.
“The referee is very much reliant on his assistant referees and his Television Match Officials (TMOs) to be a team of four.
“And so I think Angus will be leading that team but it will certainly be a team effort from the officials.
“Obviously they’ve been given a stir up from World Rugby and I know when these players that I work with get a stir up, they come out and they’re very focused the next outing.
“So we’d have confidence that the officials are going to be good this weekend across the board.”
Joe Schmidt has made four changes to the starting Irish XV for their clash with Japan:
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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….
69 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!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 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
12 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.
9 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.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 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?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments