URC statement: Munster-Bulls error and 'entirely untrue' Piardi rumours

The United Rugby Championship (URC) have issued a detailed statement addressing the officiating error during Munster’s Round 15 match against the Bulls.

Jake White’s Bulls came away with a 16-13 win in Thomond, becoming the first South African side to win a URC match in Limerick, but the game was arguably over-shadowed by the controversy around a refereeing decision in the final quarter of the contest that saw the home side reduced to 14 men.

The URC confirmed uncontested scrums were correctly implemented following injuries to both Munster tighthead props but admitted an error was made when Munster had a player removed.

Technical officials incorrectly advised referee Andrea Piardi due to a malfunction with the sideline management app and a misinterpretation of Law 3.20.

Munster’s Alex Kendellen was wrongly withdrawn but returned after the error was recognised.

The URC also stressed Piardi was not scheduled to officiate in Round 16 this weekend and reports suggesting he had been removed are “entirely untrue”.

Fixture

United Rugby Championship

Cardiff Rugby

26 - 21

Full-time

Munster

All Stats and Data

A statement reads: “Due to enforced replacements being made for both of Munster’s tighthead props during the first and second halves, the teams were forced by Law 3.13 to adopt uncontested scrums in the 52nd minute due to a lack of specialist player at that position.

“At this point it was deemed by the match officials that based upon Law 3.20 that Munster would have to reduce their team to 14 players. The match referee Andrea Piardi consulted with the technical zone officials to ensure this was the correct interpretation of the Law.

“Normally, the technical officials would have entered the player exchange information into the sideline management app on a tablet which would have flagged that Munster did not need to be reduce their team by one player in this situation. However, performance issues meant the app was not working correctly and with an incorrect interpretation of the laws, the technical zone officials incorrectly confirmed to the match referee that Munster had to play with 14 players.

“In this situation, Munster nominated Alex Kendellen (No 8) to leave the field. Soon after the reduction in players, Munster queried the error with the technical zone officials in interpreting Law 3.20.

“The correct interpretation of Law 3.20 in this situation is applied as follows:

“In the First Event, Munster tighthead, Oli Jager (No 3) is removed in the 15th minute for a Head Injury Assessment (HIA). He is replaced by Stephen Archer (No 18) who remains on the field after Jager did not return to play.

“In the Second Event, Archer is removed in the 52nd minute of the game due to a Contact Injury and could not return. In this situation, it was correctly decided that the game would proceed with uncontested scrums. The removal of an additional Munster player was incorrect.

“Additional players are only removed in situations where both specialist tightheads have suffered Contact Injuries; OR a Contact Injury to one player has been followed by a Yellow or Red Card to the replacement; OR a Yellow or Red Card to a player is followed by another card to the replacement.

“The error was recognised and the removed player, Kendellen, returned to the field of play in the 66th minute.”

Following a full review, the URC has announced additional measures to reinforce protocols and ensure referees remain responsible for substitution and uncontested scrum decisions.

“In light of the error, the BKT URC’s Head of Match Officials, Tappe Henning, communicated with the Munster coaching staff to acknowledge what had occurred,” the statement claims.

Updated training and documentation have been issued ahead of this weekend’s URC Round 16 fixtures.