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Nigel Owens explains why Fiji's Levani Botia wasn't red-carded
Nigel Owens has given his verdict on the yellow card shown last Sunday night to Fiji back-rower Levani Botia and explained why it ultimately wasn’t deemed to be a red card offence by the TMO bunker.
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The score was tied at 10 points all 10 minutes into the second half in Toulouse when Botia made head-to-head contact with the ball-carrying Portuguese winger Rodrigo Marta.
Referee Luke Pearce sin-binned Botia and signalled that a foul play review would take place after the match restarted with a penalty.
In the end, Botia’s offence wasn’t seen as something that merited a red card and he returned to the field of play to see out the remainder of a match that Fiji lost 24-23 but still qualified for next Sunday’s quarter-final versus England in Marseille.
If Botia was red-carded, he potentially faced a suspension that would have ruled him out of facing the English. Instead, he is available for selection and Owens explained why in the latest episode of the Whistle Watch programme that he presents.
“Fiji-Portugal, some of you are asking why this wasn’t a red card. Well, what we have first of all is does it reach the threshold of a yellow card to be sent to the bunker? Yes, it certainly does. It’s foul play, we have had head contact neck area, so it goes to the bunker to be reviewed.
“The bunker now will look at if there are any mitigating factors here that I don’t give a red card for. And yes there is. What we have is a slight step by the Portugal player which then causes the contact to be where it is.
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“So a good review by the bunker mitigated down from a red to a yellow because of the mitigating factor of that step by the player which then contributes to where the collision took place. And that’s what we want from the bunker, good accurate decisions.”
Owens also referenced the spider cam, the camera that overhangs the pitch that was hit by the ball during the final round of matches at the World Cup. “It happened in a couple of games over the weekend; it’s also happened to me in the past as well,” he said.
“It happened to me out in Australia-England in Sydney in 2016. I played on. I was wrong and this is why. When we have the ball touching something that is not within the field of play, touches something that is not usually there, for example the spider cam, this is what applies:
“The team last in possession, the team kicking were last in possession of the ball because the opposition haven’t gained possession of it yet, so the put-in will be to them.
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“The place will be actually where it hit the spider cam, a scrum down just below that because we can’t take into account where the ball may have gone next or what would have happened next.
“So quite rightly so, scrum down, scrum underneath where the ball comes off the spider cam and the team last in possession. So let’s hope the spider cam gets a bit higher from now on.”
Out on location ??@NigelRefOwens is in Marseille for the latest #WhistleWatch as he casts an eye on those key moments
Click below to watch ?#RWC2023 | @emirates
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 11, 2023
Comments on RugbyPass
Hard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
2 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
2 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
237 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to comments