Ref Watch: In defence of Matthew Carley
A brilliant game of rugby came to a breathless conclusion in Bordeaux when Semi Radrada just failed to hang on to a difficult skidding pass and score the try that would have given Fiji a chance to claim the spoils against Wales with the ensuing conversion.
The contest was controlled by an all-English set of onfield officials led by referee Matthew Carley with Irishman Brian MacNeice in the TMO chair.
Other than asking both captains to keep their players quiet and stop requesting TMO reviews Carley had a straightforward evening until Fiji piled on the pressure as they tried to turn round a two-score deficit in the closing 25 minutes.
The penalty count stood at a relatively low eight apiece at the end of the third quarter, but it is how Carley opted to manage the final stages of the match that has since drawn plenty of comment. I will therefore attempt to explain this sequence of events through a referee’s eyes…
56 to 62 minutes
When Fiji piled pressure on the Wales line they won four penalties in a six-minute period either side of the hour mark. Two of these were against Ryan Elias and all were either at the breakdown or for offside.
At this point Carley issued Wales skipper Jac Morgan with a warning that his team’s persistent infringement was likely to be punished with a yellow card should a further penalty be awarded in the near future.
Could Carley have issued this warning one penalty earlier? Perhaps – but since the infringements were not all inside Wales’ ‘red zone’ or for identical offences this call was not clear-cut.
In addition, because of the relatively balanced and low penalty count in the match prior to that point his tolerance level will have been slightly higher than on other occasions.
Yellow Card Scenarios
The key point to understand here is that – foul play apart – a yellow card is shown in one of two situations.
The first of these occurs when a player commits a cynical one-off offence which denies the opposition what the ref considers a possible (rather than probable) try-scoring opportunity.
The prevention of a probable try is punished by the award of a penalty try with the transgressor also getting a yellow card providing he can be identified.
The second is when a team commits multiple offences either in a short period of time or in the same situation (eg at the scrum). These infringements may be committed by different players – for example sequential scrum collapses may be caused by the tight head, hooker then the loose head – but once a team warning is issued it is the last offender who becomes the fall guy and receives the card even if he is being penalised for the first time in the match.
64 minutes
After the warning was issued Wales managed to escape their 22 without conceding any further penalties and when they drove a maul rapidly down the right-hand side of the Fiji 22 Lekima Tagitagivalu collapsed it around ten metres from his own line. This is clearly a cynical act and the islanders’ no.7 was immediately and correctly sent to the sin bin.
66 to 68 minutes
Wales then scored to lead 32-14 and six minutes later at a fairly innocuous midfield situation their replacement prop Corey Domachowski lunged into the side of a breakdown. Because Wales were recently issued a team warning their no.17 is correctly shown a yellow card.
70 minutes
Wales collapse a scrum in their own 22. Could this have earned them a second yellow card following the earlier team warning? Domachowski’s sin-binning does not wipe the slate clean, but most referees allow one further penalty before then going to their pocket for a second time.
On this basis, and possibly also because this was the first scrum penalty conceded by Wales, the immediate award of a second yellow would therefore have been harsh.
It is also worth noting that because the scrum was not moving quickly forwards or in range of the try-line this does not merit a card in its own right as a one-off offence.
72 minutes
When Fiji score a converted try through Josua Tuisova eight minutes remain. Wales incur Carley’s wrath through dawdling back to the restart and he opts to stop the clock and warn them rather than award a penalty on halfway to Fiji.
Having not previously spoken to Wales about time wasting going straight to a penalty here would be considered as unnecessarily ‘pulling a cat out of a bag.’
77 minutes
With three minutes remaining Fiji looked to have driven Penai Ravai over for a try only for Carley to rule it out following TMO review.
While the ball was touched down in goal, the Fijian carrier initially went to ground with his left knee a metre short of the line then made a second movement that involved more than placement of the ball with his arms and upper body.
This therefore led to Wales correctly being awarded a penalty – had Ravai’s momentum alone taken him over the line the try would have stood.
Comments on RugbyPass
I commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
20 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
44 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
44 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
44 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
7 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
7 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments