Nigel Owens: Why Barrett yellow didn't lead to England penalty try
Nigel Owens has reviewed the yellow card brandished last Saturday at Twickenham to All Blacks full-back Beauden Barrett and explained why his foul play didn’t result in the award of a penalty try to England. The Autumn Nations Series match in London was in its 72nd minute with the All Blacks leading by 19 points when Barrett tackled the ball-carrying Marcus Smith near the try line.
There was nothing wrong with that intervention but the New Zealander stepped out of line by not releasing the England out-half after the tackle. This breakdown chicanery was punished by referee Mathieu Raynal showing Barrett a yellow card when the play was stopped, but the question was asked at the time by England skipper Owen Farrell why a penalty try was not awarded.
Hosting the latest episode of Whistle Watch, his weekly Test rugby video series, Owens began by reviewing the Barrett yellow card which happened at a time when the All Blacks were dominating on the scoreboard. “Let’s start at HQ, England against New Zealand, great game. New Zealand up 25-6 at the time when Marcus Smith cuts through and then Beauden Barrett makes a tackle, gets to his feet but he never releases the player.
“You have to show a clear release before you go back to try and regather the ball. Because there is no clear release here, the referee gives a very, very good yellow card for an offence which some have asked, Owen Farrell was asking as well, why wasn’t it a penalty try? Well, the reason why it wasn’t a penalty try was too many defenders were there.
“So what the referee needs to think of is if Beauden Barrett hadn’t done the illegal action, would England have probably scored? That is the key thing. Not possibly. Not definitely. Probably. And looking at the defenders there you couldn’t say that England were probably going to score so the correct decision – yellow card but no penalty try.”
"I've always got time for #WhistleWatch!"@Nigelrefowens took time out from a ???? busy week on the farm to analyse some big moments and answer a few of your key questions
Presented by @Emirates pic.twitter.com/tiuW0now1P
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) November 23, 2022
In hindsight, it was a crucial decision not to give England the penalty try. Instead, when they did score a try through Will Stuart seconds later after play resumed, Smith was wide with the conversion from out on the left and that ultimately proved to be a costly miss as the two converted tries that did follow with Barrett still in the sin bin were only good enough to seal a 25-all draw.
If a penalty try had been awarded, it would have been an automatic seven-point score and it would instead have meant that Smith’s 79th-minute conversion of the second Stuart try would have been the match-winning kick for a 27-25 triumph rather than a tie-making 25-all kick.
Comments on RugbyPass
It was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
204 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
7 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
1 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
204 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
4 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
6 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
7 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
7 Go to comments