Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Robbed' - Fans furious as Angus Gardner non-call saves Scotland

Referee Angus Gardner speaks to the players during the Guinness Six Nations match at BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh. Picture date: Saturday March 18, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)

A lot of neutrals have questioned referee Angus Gardner and his decision not to call off-side against Scotland in the dying moments of their 26-14 Six Nations win over Italy at Murrayfield.

ADVERTISEMENT

With the score at 19-14 to the hosts but with Italy camped on the Scottish line, Gardner’s TMO called for a knock-on against Italy, a call which infuriated captain Michele Lamaro and many neutrals watching online.

Despite Gardner twice penalising and warning Scotland for offside at the ruck, he instead deferred to his officials of a knock-on instead of penalising the Scots for a third time.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

A few phases later Scotland broke up the pitch thanks to winger Duhan van der Merwe, who put Blair Kinghorn away on his inside to seal the win for the home side.

Twitter was furious with many Irish fans in particular taking exception to the non-call by the Australian referee.

https://twitter.com/cianodo/status/1637096916323385347

ADVERTISEMENT

Scotland will likely finish the Six Nations in third as a result of the win Gregor Townsend will no doubt be breathing a sigh of relief.

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

1 Comment
Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

c
cw 8 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Thanks JW for clarifying your point and totally agree. The ABs are still trying to find their mojo” - that spark of power that binds and defines them. Man the Boks certainly found theirs in Wellington! But I think it cannot be far off for ABs - my comment about two coaches was a bit glib. The key point for me is that they need first a coach or coaches that can unlock that power and for me that starts at getting the set piece right and especially the scrum and second a coach that can simplify the game plans. I am fortified in this view by NBs comment that most of the ABs tries come from the scrum or lineout - this is the structured power game we have been seeing all year. But it cannot work while the scrum is backpeddling. That has to be fixed ASAP if Robertson is going to stick to this formula. I also think it is too late in the cycle to reverse course and revert to a game based on speed and continuity. The second is just as important - keep it simple! Complex movements that require 196 cm 144 kg props to run around like 95kg flankers is never going to work over a sustained period. The 2024 Blues showed what a powerful yet simple formula can do. The 2025 Blues, with Beauden at 10 tried to be more expansive / complicated - and struggled for most of the season.

I also think that the split bench needs to reflect the game they “want” to play not follow some rote formula. For example the ABs impact bench has the biggest front row in the World with two props 195cm / 140 kg plus. But that bulk cannot succeed without the right power based second row (7, 4, 5, 6). That bulk becomes a disadvantage if they don’t have a rock solid base behind them - as both Boks showed at Eden Park and the English in London. Fresh powerful legs need to come on with them - thats why we need a 6-2 bench. And teams with this split can have players focused only on 40 minutes max of super high intensity play. Hence Robertson needs to design his team to accord with these basic physics.



...

221 Go to comments
Close
ADVERTISEMENT