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Speargate: The 2005 scandal that changed the way rugby polices the contact area

By Josh Raisey
GettyImages-53150768

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.

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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.

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Dallagio looks back the 1997 tour with Big Jim

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.”

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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.”

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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.

Lions 2005
Brian O’Driscoll and Clive Woodward (Getty Images)

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.

2005 Lions
Fans hold up A banner showing their feelings over Tana Umaga and Kevin Mealamu’s joint tackle on Brian O’Driscoll (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

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.

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.

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john 29 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 2 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

13 Go to comments
T
Trevor 5 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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