Ref Watch: Sorry, but the first Test officiating was too inconsistent
The addition of former World Cup final referee Nigel Owens to the Sky team covering the Lions’ tour of South Africa offers some good insight to the match officials’ thinking and approach.
But like recent ex-players who turn to punditry, he is clearly reluctant to be too critical of officials with whom he was sharing a changing room only a few months ago.
His post-match assessment of referee Nic Berry, TMO Marius Jonker and their touch judges concluded the team of four “had a good game.”
Winning coach Warren Gatland – perhaps mindful that the same group will take charge of the second and third tests – also offered lukewarm praise.
But for me there were simply too many aspects of the officiating which were inconsistent with standard operating practice. While nothing catastrophic happened from an officiating perspective, I was too often left scratching my head.
South African ‘tries’ and the TMO
The outcome of the test hinged on three critical second-half TMO calls.
Taking the easy one first, Cheslin Kolbe’s knock-on when recovering a high ball in the build up to a Damian De Allende touchdown was clear and obvious and play was correctly recalled for a Lions scrum.
Faf De Klerk’s try had earlier been allowed to stand after a lengthy review of a possible knock-on by the chasing Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Based on available TV angles this was also a correct call. Gatland’s post-match interview suggested another view exists which throws this into doubt – but if it does the British and Irish audience is yet to see it.
However, I have major doubts about Willie le Roux’s 46th minute ‘score’ being ruled out for the former Wasps full back being offside in front of Lukhanyo Am’s chip.
Berry’s onfield decision – from a position a few metres behind play – was ‘try.’ According to established protocol, this means the TMO has to find clear and obvious evidence in order to get it overturned.
Law explicitly tells us offside is based on foot position and given that neither le Roux nor Am were close to a pitch marking it is impossible to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that the full back was offside.
My gut feel in real time – like that of Nigel Owens – was that the Springboks’ no.15 was ahead of Am, but once Berry awarded the score I really struggle to see how Jonker found enough evidence to reverse this call.
Management
Berry is not an official who exudes confidence and authority and he appeared happy to simply go with the flow for much of the match.
As the table below shows, the penalty count was almost even in the first half before the Lions turned the screw after the break with a game plan based around rarely kicking to touch and using their driving maul to great effect.
This resulted in the hosts conceding five penalties and winning none in the third quarter despite which no yellow card warning was issued.
Similarly, the Lions were pinged four times on the ground in a 17-minute first-half spell without Berry stepping in to point out the possible consequences of these repeat infringements.
Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | |
Pens against SA | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
Pens against BIL | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Inconsistent Advantage
It was hard to disagree with Will Greenwood who in commentary criticised Berry’s inconsistent approach in this area.
South Africa played with penalty advantage following the game’s first scrum only to find it quickly called over when they made a break of around ten metres – which is highly unusual.
This deprived them of an opportunity to kick deep into Lions territory and also from a management perspective meant the referee lost the chance to set the tone with the front rows at the first scrum.
But when the Lions made around 30 metres while playing with penalty advantage late in the first half Berry brought play back when their attack broke down.
Calling ‘Maul’
Two maul turnovers occurred during the match – only one of which came after Berry had called ‘maul.’
In law only three players (the ball-carrier plus one from each side) are required for a wrap-up tackle to become a maul, and there was no question that this was the case in both instances.
However, it is extremely difficult for those players to be aware of when the contact is being refereed as a maul unless they are advised by the ref’s call – as a result this poor communication is the kind of situation many find infuriating.
Hamish Watson Tip Tackle
In another break from established practice, the Scottish flanker’s 63rd minute tip tackle resulted in the award of a penalty but no further sanction.
Jonker was put in a difficult position by Berry’s instinctive reaction to the incident – “just a penalty for me.”
Penalty only. Your thoughts?#LionsSA2021 #RSAvBIL #LionsRugby pic.twitter.com/Lh0LTZfEuD
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) July 24, 2021
The key point here is that this was not an incident that the Australian official missed, but rather one he saw but interpreted differently to the usual approach.
On this basis, had the TMO subsequently stopped the game and asked Berry to look at a replay he would have undermined his authority.
The tackled player’s landing position was never therefore analysed, and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Watson as a result escaped a yellow card.
On a more positive note…
There were 15 scrums in the match and despite pre-match speculation which suggested this would be a huge and probably very messy battleground only three concluded in a penalty award while one ended with a free kick. Nine completed at the first time of asking.
The latest crackdown
Am I alone in finding it slightly tiresome when World Rugby hands its officials a peripheral area of the game in which they are required to apply a token and usually soon-forgotten crackdown?
The latest craze is apparently to penalise those advancing ahead of a kick even when they are nowhere near play.
As is usually the case this happened once – in the opening minute – then was forgotten about for the remainder of the match.
Comments on RugbyPass
The events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
4 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
27 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
5 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
5 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
27 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
20 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
27 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
27 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
27 Go to comments