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
Its a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend om the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside od World Cup years.
5 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
5 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
5 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe 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 👍
3 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 comments