Ref watch: What Dan Biggar said to Gauzere, Farrell's useless anger and England's biggest offender
Ref watch: Four French officials stepped into the spotlight for this weekend’s Six Nations games in Rome and Cardiff – Mathieu Raynal and Pascal Gauzere refereeing with Romain Poite and Alex Ruiz providing TMO support.
And while Raynal and Poite enjoyed a gentle stroll in the sunshine as Italy slipped to a 30th consecutive Six Nations defeat, it may be some time before the dust settles on the officials’ roles in what finished as a comfortable Wales win over England.
Before we dissect some crucial talking points it is probably worth noting that this year’s competition – courtesy of Covid-19 – is something of a throwback in officiating terms.
In the days before World Rugby (or the IRB as it was formerly known) all officials came from the Five Nations – and even wore their own country’s colours. Close your eyes and think back to Clive Norling or Jim Fleming and they were wearing red or blue.
Since the dawn of the professional age, the world’s best officials have travelled the globe and as a result we see plenty of Southern Hemisphere referees in the Six Nations when travel is possible.
On top of this European rugby has in the relatively recent past lost Nigel Owens and Jerome Garces – who respectively took charge of the 2015 and 2019 World Cup finals – plus seasoned Irish officials George Clancy and John Lacey. It is therefore fair to say that the current appointments picture has a very different and much less experienced look.
Wales v England – Josh Adams Try
When Gauzere sees the TV camera angle behind Wales’ posts he will appreciate that while he was correct in law he has made a major game-management error.
When the 43-year-old correctly penalised Owen Farrell on the ground in his own 22 the visitors had shipped five penalties in the opening quarter.
It was therefore entirely reasonable for Gauzere to call the England captain over, issue a warning and instruct: “Have a word with your team please they need to change their behaviour.”
After the clock stopped, the wide-angle camera shows all 15 England players behind their own posts.
Quick-thinking Wales no.10 Dan Biggar – who had the ball – is then heard to request: “Please let me know when time is on” at which point Gauzere should have instantly switched on mentally and realised a quickly-taken penalty was a possibility.
??????? Wales couldn’t have asked for a better start! ?
Thoughts? #GuinnessSixNations #WALvENG pic.twitter.com/zThws0HGi6
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 27, 2021
Since he had stopped the clock and instructed Farrell to call his team in “for a word,” it was now essential that he completed the cycle before restarting the clock by checking his message had been relayed and that England were ready to recommence play.
After all, had England ignored his instructions and remained spread across the field, Gauzere would quite rightly have viewed a yellow card for the captain as an entirely reasonable course of action.
Farrell’s post-try complaints were understandable, but by then the damage was done and there was no going back. This meant the England skipper’s aggressive manner only achieved (based on Gauzere’s body language) in undermining his prospects of having a reasonable communication flow with the official during the remainder of the match.
Wales v England – Game Management
Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | |
Pens against Wales | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Pens against England | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why England repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot by getting on the wrong side of the referee is an interesting and very relevant question.
Since the last World Cup multiple whistlers have found fault with Jones’s team, and while a reputation can sometimes go ahead of you, some of their infringements are unbelievably brainless.
At 24-all England should probably have gone on to win the match only for the concession of four penalties in eight fourth-quarter minutes to hand Wales field position and three shots at goal.
Gauzere’s application of law was tighter – critics will say more pedantic – than many. For example, he penalised lineout blocking by a lifter three times in the course of the match.
International teams analyse referees to such a degree that they go on the field knowing what to expect – so this really shouldn’t have surprised England to the extent that it did.
But the key point here is that good sides with capable leaders spot trends, communicate and adapt. Can you imagine John Eales, Sam Warburton or Richie McCaw allowing their teams to regularly ship between 15 and 20 penalties or repeatedly commit technical offences?
England’s biggest offender is Maro Itoje who was penalised five times. This is way beyond normal tolerance levels, and when he reviews his performance Gauzere should be asking himself why a player who infringed four times in the opening 27 minutes was neither formally warned nor shown a yellow card.
Wales v England – Liam Williams Try
Unlike the two previous topics, the controversial award of this first-half score is more about interpretation of law.
The pass which reached a flying Louis Rees-Zammit was behind him and after hitting his right hand it rolled down the back of his leg – perhaps straight down or perhaps marginally forward – before rebounding forward from Henry Slade to Liam Williams who regathered and scored.
In real time it looked like a knock-on, and based on Williams’ muted reaction and Rees-Zammit’s frustrated one that was certainly their belief.
The first thing to clarify here is that once Gauzere ruled a try on field, TMO Ruiz had to find clear and obvious evidence with which to overturn this decision – and there was none.
??????? Liam Williams gets Wales' second try of the half. #GuinnessSixNations #WALvENG pic.twitter.com/rTOM0pypji
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 27, 2021
In matches where there is no TMO, this incident is ruled a knock-on 999 times out of 1000 – in fact something similar happens quite regularly at lower levels where handling errors are more common.
Picture a player knocking on then, flashing a frustrated foot at the ball, making contact before it hits the ground and looking hopefully to the referee to see if he interprets his mistake as a kick. Because the player has lost control of the ball very few whistlers will support his optimism!
This drops into a similar category as a number of other recent incidents since law does not specifically deal with it.
Those who read my Round Two column may recall the phrase “A player should not jump into a tackle” is no longer in the law book. Instead the officials had to decide whether Jonny May’s spectacular finish against Italy constituted dangerous play.
A player kicking the ball before it hits the ground after losing control is also not a question to which a law book enquiry produces a direct answer – but based on historic practice is usually ruled a knock-on.
It is also worth noting that Gauzere may well have been unsighted – and in this respect he received no audible assistance from his touch judge who was right on the spot. Had the flag-man called in a knock-on the TMO would never have got involved and no-one watching, including either set of players, would have questioned it.
Given the ever-growing involvement of the man in the TV van, it seems to me that the touch judge has a growingly irrelevant role, but that one is for another day.
Italy v Ireland – Iain Henderson ‘Try’
As Ireland piled early pressure on their hosts, Iain Henderson stretched for the line in a pile of bodies and the ball came loose and was cleared.
At the next stoppage referee Raynal quietened the second row’s suggestion that he had in fact scored a try with the information that TMO Poite had already looked at the incident “in the background.”
However, when ITV produced a slow-motion replay it was immediately obvious that Henderson had control of the ball and had grounded it. Given that Raynal was unsighted (and therefore blameless), this creates immediate questions.
The TMO protocol allows intervention in three areas – foul play, to adjudge whether a kick has gone through the posts and to adjudge on try-scoring – so this decision sits squarely in Poite’s remit.
Since the ball remained in play he was unable to stop the game until it next became dead, but at that point surely the incident had to go on the giant screen for Raynal to view?
While initiatives to keep play moving are to be welcomed, since the two-hour rugby match is a much too regular occurrence, getting try-or-no-try decisions correct in an international is surely much more important?
Italy v Ireland – Offsides in Open Play
It was interesting to see the officials twice penalise Italian forwards advancing ahead of being put onside when chasing a long kick.
On neither occasion were they within 40 metres of the ball-carrier, and while they are technically offside as soon as they take a forward step, in practice this has been overlooked for years.
In the second half Reynal also audibly warned Italy’s scrum half Callum Braley not to advance in front of the ball carrier when he was “running a cheat line” ahead of play.
Assuming Reynal has not produced this rabbit out of a hat this is clearly an area in which World Rugby have asked officials to clamp down, and given that it results in increased space it is an initiative to be applauded.
Comments on RugbyPass
Four Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
1 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
10 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
18 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
2 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
1 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
10 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
10 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
10 Go to commentsLove Manu but he's not the player he was and I imagine Bayonne have paid too much money for him.
3 Go to commentsNew Zealand have not beaten England since 2018 and even that was a pretty close shave.
1 Go to comments“a renewed focus on Scottish-qualified players” Scottish-qualified is another way of saying English. England has development more players for the Scotland national Rugby team in the last 4 years, than Scotland has.
2 Go to commentsThis sounds a lot like the old Welsh rugby proverb “Wales never lose. Other teams just score more points.”
5 Go to commentsFinally,at last, Borthwick has done what the whole of England have been crying out for. Ditch the kick chase and let the players have freedom to attack and run with the ball. It was great to see. Ford played really well and for the first time in ages was 5 yards closer to the gainline which then allowed a more attacking position . Pity it has taken 90 odd caps to do so. However, this has to continue and not be a false dawn . One issue. Marcus. With Ford having one really good game in 5 ,is he the answer long term . Smith puts bums on seats and is terrific to watch . How can you leave him out before he departs for France in disillusion . England are in danger of Simmons , Alex Goode , Cipriani , Mercer and now Smith being unable to get a selection ahead of “favourites” of the management regardless of form . Great to see England play so well .
2 Go to commentsCockerill was an abrasive player in the mould of a Georgian front rower who will have the respect of that pack. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with this exciting team, hopefully they can send a message to unions like Wales that money alone doesn't buy you wins.
2 Go to commentsI like the look of those July matches. Hopefully they'll get some good tests in November too.
2 Go to commentsThis is a poor article, essentially just trolling six nations teams
22 Go to commentsConnaught man? How you can write that without blushing.
6 Go to comments