1
'Should it have been yellow card, red card, why is it neither? Explain': Raynal's divisive 'no card' head shot decisions
After weeks of heated debate over a deluge of red cards in the Guinness Six Nations and Gallagher Premiership, Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final at Sandy Park prompted a very different conversation – why the absence of any cards from referee Mathieu Raynal for Exeter players for two high shots to the face of Leinster replacement Ross Byrne.
ADVERTISEMENT
Leinster went on to win the match 34-22 despite not gaining any numerical advantage following the high collisions by Jonny Hill and Jannes Kirsten. The Irish sub out-half kicked the penalties that were awarded for six points but there was much chat on live TV and on Twitter about why referee Raynal opted to keep his cards in his pocket rather than take more severe action against Exeter.
Raynal’s officiating has already come under scrutiny last Sunday when contact by Jake Ball to the head of Faf de Klerk during Sale’s round of 16 game went unpunished. Six days later, the quarter-final at Sandy Park was in the last minute of the first half when Hill first clattered into Byrne. Here is how the commentary unfolded from Exeter on BT Sport between pundits Brian O’Driscoll – who featured on RugbyPass this week talking about his card frustrations – and Sam Warburton and match commentator Alastair Eykyn while they listened to the TMO-consulting Raynal.
BOD: What a great collision that is (by Hill). That is textbook.
SW: What is great about this hit, just because he made the tackle it is never over. The tackle is half the job, the second part of the job is getting back on your feet and he does really well doing that.
"We are seeing many teams being mismatched between 15 and 14"
– @btsportrugby pundit @BrianODriscoll tells @heagneyl ??? what he is currently finding most frustrating about rugby but adds it is a necessary pain#ChampionsCup #EXEvLEI https://t.co/5Xkm4mzwzq
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 8, 2021
BOD: They are going to have a look at this. You can see from that angle there is an arm that followed through and made contact with Ross Byrne’s face.
SW: Good spot, Drico. His arm comes through, doesn’t it… hits him in the face.
ADVERTISEMENT
AE: This is going to be a critical decision.
BOD: This could be either of the three (penalty, yellow, red card).
AE: That conversation suggests we are heading towards red.
SW: I think you’re right. As soon as they use the words force to the head and speed, it’s a red card and they haven’t spoken about any mitigation. We are looking at a red card…
BOD: The initial contact with the shoulder looks good but it is that flailing arm…
ADVERTISEMENT
MR: …the ball carrier has dipped a little in height so I will go with penalty kick only as the first hit is on the shoulder, the ball carrier dips a little bit and then we have the arm slide up to the face but without any force so we are going for a penalty.
AE: Goodness.
BOD: I don’t know. I’m trying to put all the footage together. It feels as though it was almost a perfect yellow card maybe in that yes, the impact was initially on the shoulder and then it was a flailing impact relatively low.
AE: It’s interesting to hear the conversation develop, though. Initially, they thought there was quite a lot of speed, quite a lot of force and ended up suggesting perhaps that force was minimal.
BOD: It has come down from red card to penalty.
Jonny Hill’s gone here.
— Joe Harvey (@joeharvey34) April 10, 2021
TMO wanted a red, Raynal right in PK only with the help of his assistant referee Christophe Ridley #EXEvLEI
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) April 10, 2021
Should have been yellow at most. Big call. Seen a red card for loads of them though. Glad it’s not. #EXEvLEI
— Jim Hamilton (Vice Captain) (@jimhamilton4) April 10, 2021
Brilliant decision. Never more than a penalty https://t.co/biJeLstpvF
— Dan Robson (@d_jrobson) April 10, 2021
That Jonny Hill tackle was perhaps the most poorly explained referral ever. From nothing to a nailed-on red, then suddenly just a penalty, and the TMO comes in with a late futile gesture of "…but it hit him in the face?" which ref appeared to agree with but did nothing.
— Elgan Evan Alderman (@ElganTimes) April 10, 2021
39 Back come Leinster and the TMO has called in a Chiefs tackle by Jonny Hill. Not looking good on the big screen, but let's see what the ref makes of it.
Ref is saying it was on the shoulder but on to the head with hand at low speed. Penalty only.
14-17#EXEvLEI— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) April 10, 2021
At half-time, match coverage presenter Craig Doyle said: “Everyone at home is going to be talking about this moment from Jonny Hill. Should it have been yellow card, red card, why is it neither? Explain.”
Lawrence Dallaglio replied: “The referee Mathieu Raynal took his time. In real-time, it looked like Jonny Hill got a good shot off on Ross Byrne but actually, when you slow it down, that angle looks fine, he makes contact with the top of the shoulder, but that (other) angle does not look good, he has made contact with the head.
“When the referee looked at it the initial contact Jonny Hill made with the head is on the chest, shoulder and ultimately ends up on the head… Exeter will be happy with a penalty only. The thing to look at is the contact initially is on the shoulder and there is a tiny bit of mitigation, as the referee says, with Ross Byrne’s head coming down.
“Let’s have another look at this angle: as we slow it down and we are trying to be fair here, bang, contact there on the shoulder. I reckon if he got a yellow card neither side would complain about that. Exeter have ended up quite fortunate.”
The second controversial high tackle incident arose on 65 minutes when replacement Exeter forward Kirsten tackled Byrne, a swinging arm coming up after the initial tackle to hit the Leinster player in the face. Again, referee Raynal didn’t brandish a card to the offending Exeter player and he only gave the visitors a penalty kick.
MR: I am going to review this tackle, please.
AE: Once again it is Ross Byrne (who is hit), it is that arm that comes around.
MR: That is the same as the first one, so I will just go for a penalty only. The hit is good. He has wrapped on the chest. There is indirect contact to the neck are but will very low force.
SW: The only thing I can say on that is he is consistent, but he [Kirsten] doesn’t make an effort to bend at the hips. That is why it should go up to a yellow. Hill bends but Kirsten is upright. He doesn’t make any effort to bend so that is why it should be a higher sanction.
AE: In the Gallagher Premiership that is certainly yellow.
BOD: A lucky man… that could easily have been a yellow card.
Felt like Raynal was talking himself down from red to yellow then he just thinks 'F*** it' and just goes 'penalty' pic.twitter.com/TsxY1ItCMO
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) April 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/Brian1zvx/status/1380946846336626696
That's the second one. The ref is now putting players in danger with his incompetence. He's also not at the level of the two brilliant teams putting on a great game #EXEvLEI
— Conor Barron (@Cbarron15) April 10, 2021
Earlier decision has lead to that other high shot – if yellow was given there correctly, everyone knows the line. Now we’re in Raynal making it up as he goes along and players testing the limits of rules ?
— luke fitzgerald (@lukefitz11) April 10, 2021
Raynal ? Joe Schmidt and Joel Jutge must be doing their nut.
— Mark Robson (@rugbyjaffa) April 10, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’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.)
3 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.
28 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
2 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?
3 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.
3 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 comments