Speargate: The 2005 scandal that changed the way rugby polices the contact area
In the history of rugby, no clearout at a ruck has ever been as contentious as the one that gave birth to the infamous Speargate scandal in 2005. Less than a minute into the 2005 British and Irish Lions’ first Test against the All Blacks in Christchurch, captain Brian O’Driscoll was cleared out at the ruck by his opposing outside centre and captain Tana Umaga, alongside hooker Keven Mealamu, in an event that will still leave a bitter taste in the mouth of many from the British Isles.
With touch judge Andrew Cole mere metres away, the pair upended the Irishman and drove him head-first into the ground, dislocating his shoulder and ending his tour, only to go unpunished in the match.
For viewers at the time there was not great televisual footage of the offence, largely because this was so late that play, and the attentions of the cameramen, had moved on. The most noticeable thing was O’Driscoll’s cry of pain when landing more than anything visual.
This is what ultimately proved to be the problem, as, despite Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward reporting Umaga and Mealamu to the International Rugby Board’s citing commissioner, Willem Venter, there was deemed to be insufficient footage, and the pair were cleared. It was only in the succeeding months that more angles emerged which were more incriminating.
Speaking in a press conference the next morning, the Lions centre did not mince words, as the New Zealand Herald reported:
“I have no doubt whatsoever that it was some sort of spear tackle that ended it.
“My real disappointment was that he (Umaga) didn’t come up as I was being stretchered off which I thought would just be a common courtesy between captains, whether he had been involved or not.
“I don’t know whether that shows any element of guilt or not. At the time and post-match when I thought about it, that certainly disappointed me.”
There is no greater indicator of the severity of the spear than O’Driscoll seeing it as a positive that he did not break his neck. But needless to say, Woodward was exasperated at the entire ordeal, and lambasted the citing process in a week long onslaught to the press by the Lions team. This was an event that furcated the two opposing camps beyond the simple status of being Test opponents, it created a new level of animosity, which was perhaps magnified by the Lions’ poor showing.
This opened widespread speculation that the All Blacks had targeted the Lions’ captain and talisman, something that the Rugby World Cup winning coach ruled out. He nonetheless described it as a “dreadful foul”, as reported in The Independent.
Umaga and the All Blacks head coach Sir Graham Henry were keen to move on from the issue despite the storm that was created, more or less saying that it was a part of rugby. Of course, from their perspective that is understandable as nothing productive was going to come out of discussing it.
The captain did comment on the position that O’Driscoll had taken though, particularly how he had not gone to see him. The BBC reported in a press conference that Umaga said he had other priorities at the time, saying: “At that stage I had to try and keep (the team) together. It was such a lengthy period, we had to sort some things out that worked for us.”
By modern standards there is little or no doubt that both Umaga and Mealamu would see red for inflicting an injury in which it took 25 minutes to relocate O’Driscoll’s shoulder. Furthermore, with greater power to the television match officials today and advancements in technology, it would have been much easier to address the situation on the pitch and for the correct action to be taken.
Even by the standards of 2005, this was still a reprehensible act, although it was not until the amateur footage of the clearout was made public that the IRB condemned it, despite having access to it beforehand.
But what lingers from that fateful night in Christchurch is some of rugby’s biggest ‘what if’ questions. Firstly, what if the Lions were able to keep their captain for all three Tests? Secondly, would the series have panned out in a different way had Umaga and Mealamu been punished in the match, or retrospectively, in the way many from the British Isles deemed justifiable? The All Blacks captain went on to score three tries in the series and was as potent as ever in the midfield.
The hosts were by far and away the better team throughout the series, but O’Driscoll was one of the giants of the game at the time and only managed 41 seconds of the entire series. While some may say that his presence, or Umaga’s lack of, would have been inconsequential, we would only need to fast forward twelve years to the Lions’ return to New Zealand to see the impact of a red card.
After dominating the first Test, a 25th minute red card to Sonny Bill Williams in the next meeting for a shoulder charge to the head of Anthony Watson was one of the deciding factors in swinging the match, which ultimately led to a drawn series after a third Test tie.
It is impossible to know whether the permutations of any different decision-making in 2005, but it left plenty of bad blood for years to come. However, it is something that is buried in the past for the two players.
Brian Odriscoll and Tana Umaga performed the traditional Maori Hongi, a strong symbolic show of unity between two people showing how they have put that “spear tackle” behind them! pic.twitter.com/68I20FFmFx
— ????? ?????? ? (@_RugbyHeaven) November 21, 2018
The Ireland legend was quoted in The Irish Times 13 years later: “We parked it a long time ago.
“It was one of those things. Was it unfortunate? Yeah. Should you have dealt with it slightly differently? Yeah. You’ve got to move on. You can’t bring those sorts of things through life.”
The game has progressed in such a way that it is unlikely that there will ever be a situation akin to this one again. There will undoubtedly be decisions by citing panels that some may not agree with, but not where a player like O’Driscoll or coach like Woodward feel so mistreated. It goes to show how much has changed in 15 years.
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments