Ref Watch: Why 'too picky' Matthew Carley is on to a winner
The business end of the 2022 Six Nations is upon us and it is no coincidence that World Rugby has upped the refereeing ante through the appointment of some of its leading officials.
After a spell during which France had four of the world’s top referees, English officiating is currently enjoying a strong spell with Wayne Barnes being joined in the upper echelons of the international game by Matthew Carley and Luke Pearce both of whom saw Six Nations action this weekend.
Wales v France
Carley, aged 37, who has been operating in the English Premiership since 2013 and whistling Tier One international games since 2016 was a touch judge in the 2019 World Cup. Since then, his repeated exposure to top-level contests suggests he is on course to be one of the elite 12-strong group who referee in France 2023.
Each time I see (and hear) Carley I am struck by his similarity to Barnes. Both believe in getting the detail right and are not afraid to intervene in the early stages of a game if they are not getting the response they seek from the players.
Carley’s clear, calm management and communication is something which relative newcomers to top-level refereeing (including fast-tracked ex-players such as Karl Dickson, Mike Adamson and Frank Murphy) could learn plenty from.
Perhaps my only criticism in this respect is that unlike Barnes and especially Pearce, Carley made no attempt to converse with les Bleus in French. While plenty of the visiting players have fluent English by making an attempt to speak in French the referee is sending a subliminal message that he is doing everything in his power to be impartial.
PLAYER RATINGS: Wales might even have been the better side in Cardiff but points proved elusive. @will_owen9 ??? rates the Welsh players#GuinnessSixNations #WALvFRAhttps://t.co/Gd4tBtXa5z
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 11, 2022
Pedantic maybe, but effective
Two first half scrums and one lineout ended with free kicks being awarded for technical offences – early engagement, early push and closing the gap – and as a result Carley was criticised in commentary for being “too picky.”
What TV pundits and social media critics perhaps don’t fully grasp is the importance to the referee of setting standards and establishing ground rules. Stopping the game to give set-piece free kicks may be frustrating to those hoping for a free-flowing spectacle, but they overlook that top-level players often take a mile when given an inch.
Carley will, during midweek meetings and his pre-match briefing of the forwards, explain how he referees scrum engagement, sets and maintains the lineout ‘gap.’ Come match day, if he then turns a blind eye to these admittedly minor infringements, it is almost certain that bigger problems subsequently ensue as the players attempt to ‘fix’ the issues themselves.
Players understandably find nothing more frustrating than a referee who fails to follow through on his pre-match words. Having been told to expect a particular approach they will prepare with this in mind and to subsequently find an aspect of the contest approached in a different way is far from ideal. Carley is very definitely not guilty of taking this approach.
The scrum stats from France’s win over Wales underline how effective Carley’s approach proved. There were 16 scrums in the game only four of which required a reset. In addition, after awarding two early free kicks and a penalty to France, the man in charge had no need to intervene in the final eight scrums of the match.
PLAYER RATINGS: This was not vintage France but Fabien Galthie's men got the job done in Cardiff.
Paul Smith ??? rates the France players #GuinnessSixNations https://t.co/9MM73mgYTX
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 12, 2022
Anorak Corner
There were two interesting and slightly obscure points of law during the match which merit further explanation.
France’s quick throw-in
Following a raking Dan Biggar kick, France fielded the ball just outside their own 22 and immediately fired a quick angled throw-in to Melvyn Jaminet, who from a position inside his 22, found a good touch inside the Wales half.
In law, a quickly-taken throw is not required to be straight and may be taken at any point between the line of touch (where a formed lineout would take place) and the throwing team’s goal-line.
However, because the line of touch was in this instance outside France’s 22, the quick throw put the ball back into the 22. Under a law change introduced a few years ago, the kicking team cannot then gain ground in this scenario unless the ball bounces into touch. Wales were therefore awarded a lineout opposite the point where Ntmack kicked.
France offside in front of the kicker
As the match entered the closing ten minutes, France kicked from inside their own 22 and a player ahead of the kicker was penalised for advancing before being put onside.
In this situation, law gives the non-offending team the option of a kick where the chaser is first offside or a scrum where the ball was kicked – in this case inside the France 22.
Since the laws were changed to give the throw-in following a penalty which is kicked into touch to the non-offending team we rarely see the scrum option taken, however Wales bucked the trend.
Galthie has laid the blame for France's flat performance on illness. https://t.co/IPeeCUQSeZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 12, 2022
Italy v Scotland
Pearce was one of the elite 12 at the last World Cup, and given his progress since must now be eyeing an appointment in the knock-out stages of France 2023.
While his French is developing nicely, there is no evidence of any Italian as yet. Despite this both sets of players seemed to have few difficulties in understanding the 34-year-old whose communication was typically clear and effective.
Italy Yellow Card?
When Pearce reviews his performance, he may look differently at his decision not to show Italy no.8 Toa Halafihi a yellow card late in the first half.
After Scotland broke into the home 22 they won quick ball around ten metres from the Italy line. With supporting numbers available, a try seemed a distinct possibility against broken field defence until Halafihi dived on the ball to kill it as it emerged from the breakdown.
Pearce awarded a penalty and told the home back-rower: “Unless the ball is a metre out you can’t dive on it.”
The key variables here are the incident’s location – within the ‘red zone’ close to Italy’s line – and the attacking possibilities it denied given that numbers and space were available to Scotland.
The fact that this one-metre law interpretation is relatively recent is irrelevant – as an international standard player Halafihi should have a detailed knowledge of law.
PLAYER RATINGS: As is usually the case for Scotland in Rome, Gregor Townsend’s side didn’t have it all their own way and had to withstand a late fightback from the home side.@Gav_S_Harper ??? rates the Scotland players #ITAvSCO #GuinnessSixNations https://t.co/hN1sHYJAVr
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 12, 2022
Winning hands down
Every now and then something new emerges and we had an interesting example during the first half of this game.
Scotland’s Grant Gilchrist was stood parallel with the back foot of the breakdown, and as Ali Price fed an in-the-pocket Finn Russell the visitors’ lock raised his arms above his head.
“Put your arms down,” Pearce immediately told him, presumably suspecting that Glichrist – who technically was in on offside position since he was in front of the ball – was attempting to obscure Italy’s view of Russell and by doing so was also interfering with play.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments