Munster columnist @trevormurphy73 had some thoughts on the officiating at the recent Bledisloe Cup opener to the Rugby Championship
I came home on Saturday after work to watch the first Bledisloe cup match of the season. Not long into the match I decided to write this piece. The decisions I want to talk about were watched at full game speed and only reviewed again if I felt there was a significant error. Some of you may disagree with me but that’s ok. It’s what makes living in a free country worthwhile. I will always listen to an opposing argument even when I believe it is incorrect.
Firstly I believe that NZ are by some margin the best national side playing rugby at the moment. Secondly I believe that NZ get more than their fair share of calls in a given match. 50 50’s in a NZ match are more like 60 40’s. This is not intended as an attack on referees. I believe that the officials at the match this weekend are amongst the best in rugby. It is meant to stimulate debate on this great sport of ours. I have left out any names as I don’t want to personalise the comments. What follows is a chronological list of the events in question.
9th minute: NZ were awarded a scrum penalty in the Australian half. What bothered me about this was before the scrum had collapsed the NZ flanker had broken his bind and was actually ahead of his prop. It didn’t take any deep analysis to see this. As I said above, I watched it at full match speed and only analysed it more to verify what my instinct had told what happened.
14th minute: NZ were given a knock on advantage. This was then upgraded to a full penalty for hands in the ruck. What was not taken into account was the infringement by NZ players lying over the ball and offside. The ref should have reverted to the knock on advantage and awarded NZ a scrum.
17th minute: Australia had a lineout in their territory. The NZ prop at the front of the lineout came across the line and barged into the Australian player. The ball was knocked into touch by NZ for another Australian line out. The ref then warns the NZ prop for his previous move.
18th minute: We had a repeat of the event in the fourteenth minute. Yet another knock on advantage to NZ which was upgraded to a penalty. This time the NZ flanker came steaming in from the side to clear out the Australian defenders. Again the ref should have reverted to the knock on advantage and awarded a scrum to NZ.
26th minute: Australia were awarded a penalty for crossing by NZ in midfield. While this one was harder to call from the refs point of view, the NZ player over ran his team mate on a parallel line. Not a crossing penalty in my book.
32nd minute: NZ player obstructed in midfield. What it meant was the Australian defender outside him had to check his run slightly. This left space for the NZ player to score a try. Does this mean the try wouldn’t have been scored? I don’t think Australia would have held out much longer but the fact is it was a penalty. At this level players need only a fraction of a second to take advantage of a half a yards space.
35th minute: NZ were awarded a penalty for Australia holding on. What was missed is the NZ defender only got at the ball because his team mates were lying all over the ruck preventing Australia from supporting their runner. It wasn’t subtle!
42nd minute: There was a forward pass by the NZ midfielder. It was not a blatant one but everyone in the commentary box seemed to call it at the same time as I did. A marginal call that could easily be missed by the ref. The linesman should have picked it up though. Within 20 seconds NZ were tackled into touch. The NZ scrum half held on to the ball preventing a quick throw. Didn’t the ref warn him about something like that in the first half?
50th minute: NZ flanker sprinted back into position to block an Australian defender. It wasn’t just running into the line though, he changed his line to do this.
70th minute: NZ midfielder checked and Australian trying to chase down a kick. It wasn’t the worst offence I have ever seen on a rugby field but the rules are the rules.
I don’t think Australia had what it takes to beat NZ on this occasion. They appeared to be rusty. Their execution was very poor at key times. You are never going to beat a team with NZ ability if your line speed is slow in defence. In attack the Australian players were receiving the ball standing still which is a recipe for disaster. Add the questionable officiating calls to the poor play by Australia and it’s a massive uphill battle to beat a quality side.
Take the almost result by Ireland in Christchurch as an example. The NZ captain looked like he had been in a knock down drag out after 80 minutes. You have to fight NZ tooth and nail to even get close on the scoreboard. The ferocity of NZ in the tackle area means teams have to commit numbers and this leaves them without much hope out wide. Rant over!
I’m Trevor, 39. A passionate Munster and Irish Rugby Fan. A champion of the underdog. I have strong opinions on this beautiful game of ours. Always analysing tactics and phases of play. I believe in the old saying “It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the about size of the fight in the dog”. Stand up and fight!
