Wales First Try - Fair or not?

[Nigel Med]

I know that Farrell is despised on this board- with pretty good reason- but he was blameless on this occasion. It was one of the most appalling pieces of game management from an official that I've ever witnessed in an international match and has been universally condemned as such by everyone including the likes of ex-Welsh captain Sam Warburton and Welsh referee Nigel Owens.

Farrell was told to speak to his players and that time was off for him to do so. To suggest that he should have been ready for a quick penalty and "switched of" is nonsense. The moment Gauzerre told him to speak to his team he should not have allowed a "quick" penalty. Gauzerre's actions are nothing short of disgraceful, Biggar is asking him when time is back on, Gauzerre must have been aware what he wanted to do, he looks round, sees that Farrell has finished talking to the team, ignores the fact that they are all still under the posts completely out of position and re-starts play. It actually looks like a deliberate act to favour Wales whether or not that was the case. 

Gauzerre's actions after the score compound his terrible management, Farrell is justifiably furious. Gauzerre tells him "I will speak first", to his credit, Farrell stops talking, Gauzerre then tells him that he had plenty of time to reset- a complete fabrication- then walks away refusing to listen to Farrell, the England team captain. Incredible.

The score stands because there was nothing illegal and the referee is the sole arbiter of fact on the pitch. Doesn't mean that it doesn't stink and has cast a dark cloud over the standard of refereeing in world Rugby.

England didn't deserve to win the match, their discipline was dreadful although the two tries were not the only debatable decisions during the match. Having seen Jones' predictably dull selection of out of form players (including Farrell) I had Wales to win a close contest which it may well have been had Wales not been gifted a 14 point head start.

What is a pity is that on the rare occasions Gauzerre actually allowed some rugby to take place, England looked far better in attack than they have for some time. There was pace, quick ball, good movement in support and they scored two decent tries. All that will of course be totally overshadowed by the ludicrous penalty count.

[hookender]

I thought waterboys were on for both sides.

[Mellie]

I agree the referee's game management was poor.

Having thought about this, the way it could be dealt with equitably is for referees not to call time off at all. It is not really the referee's place to get the captain to have a team talk. All players know what happens if they keep offending. The ref just needs to say 'next one goes to the bin' as a warning. This then still gives the non-offending team the chance of a quick play.

If a captain really wants a team talk they should be able to request this when there is a genuine stoppage and time is already off. At that point the ref asks both teams if they are ready before putting time back on.

[BarossaD]

Poor refereeing. That said, while not quite the same, I don't recall being quite so outraged at Dobby's quick tap penalty vs Bristol earlier this season...

[Nigel Med]

I agree the referee's game management was poor.

Having thought about this, the way it could be dealt with equitably is for referees not to call time off at all. It is not really the referee's place to get the captain to have a team talk. All players know what happens if they keep offending. The ref just needs to say 'next one goes to the bin' as a warning. This then still gives the non-offending team the chance of a quick play.

If a captain really wants a team talk they should be able to request this when there is a genuine stoppage and time is already off. At that point the ref asks both teams if they are ready before putting time back on.

I can't claim to have refereed at International level but if I ever signalled time off and instructed a captain to talk to his team which I did fairly often, it's good management and often effective if the team has a decent skipper (i.e. not Owen Farrell), I would wait for an acknowledgement from said captain that they were ready before restarting the clock and resuming play. I treated it in exactly the same way as the start of the match when you always check with both captains for starting the game. You would occasionally speak to a captain and they would indeed ask for time to talk to their team which you'd manage in exactly the same way. Really not rocket science, there are far more difficult aspects of refereeing a rugby match which is why it is so extraordinary that a referee appointed to an international made such a Horlicks of it.

You can't draw comparisons with Dobby's try against Bristol as at no point had time off been called. Having said that, we'd be fuming if it happened against us.

[MarleyWasp]

https://twitter.com/andrewfrugby/status/1367064841706430464?s=19

[hookender]

https://twitter.com/andrewfrugby/status/1367064841706430464?s=19

😀😀😀

[Chunky24]

This is a good analysis of not just this incident but the whole game by Squidge Rugby, bit of Welsh bias but very insightful particularly the last bit around England lineouts.

https://youtu.be/K6rIMLowoJI

[InBetweenWasp]

I know that Farrell is despised on this board- with pretty good reason- but he was blameless on this occasion. It was one of the most appalling pieces of game management from an official that I've ever witnessed in an international match and has been universally condemned as such by everyone including the likes of ex-Welsh captain Sam Warburton and Welsh referee Nigel Owens.

Agreed! The anti-England bias totally blind here. 

I suspect I’m as bored by England stagnating in both style of play and selection and even more bored of the rhetoric coming out from the camp that everything is fine and they’re training well, but it doesn’t mean everything that happens to them is deserved, or their fault.

[MarleyWasp]

This is a good analysis of not just this incident but the whole game by Squidge Rugby, bit of Welsh bias but very insightful particularly the last bit around England lineouts.

https://youtu.be/K6rIMLowoJI

Nobody seems to have noted that Ford made contact with Adams whilst he was in the air illegally. Had Adams not grounded it, it would have been a penalty try.

[mike909]

This is a good analysis of not just this incident but the whole game by Squidge Rugby, bit of Welsh bias but very insightful particularly the last bit around England lineouts.

https://youtu.be/K6rIMLowoJI

Very interesting piece - the lineout issue confirms England's strategies in recent times. Kick to the opposition, pressure the the catcher, get them to kick ball off park. Lineout....and with most England tries coming from lineouts, Wales sensibly kept the ball on the park, making England think.

[Mellie]

This is a good analysis of not just this incident but the whole game by Squidge Rugby, bit of Welsh bias but very insightful particularly the last bit around England lineouts.

https://youtu.be/K6rIMLowoJI

Best analysis I've ever seen and very humorous too.

So jammy Wales are not quite as strawberry looking as they seem 😄

[13thWarrior]

Squidge is amazing, highly recommend checking out all his videos