Welcome fellow G&GRs to another midweek post. That time of the week when we slowly let go of the previous week’s results and start looking forward to the weekend and another game when our team will once again either win through glorious play or be denied by those cheating officials. Here’s to both the Wallabies and ABs getting up again, and let’s hope this week the Argies and Boks also win so we have a full Southern hemisphere takeover. Nothing better than rubbing it into the NH rugby fraternity.
Referee Corner
It wasn’t a huge week of controversy, although there was a fair bit of disgruntlement with the TMO input in both the Aus/Wales and Boks/Ireland games. To be fair to the officials in South Africa, with the way the SA coaches, administration and supporters have reacted to decisions in the past, I think I would also tend to apply the laws a bit more technically and use the TMO more to ensure I wasn’t the subject of a 2-hour video from their chief protagonist. There were, however, a couple of incidents and maybe I can provide some semblance as to why the decisions went the way they did. And, no, not the shot clock, DMac just needs to be better.
The 1st incident is the non-try to James Lowe in the Boks match. The ruling was that the ball had been played by Bunda Aki while he was on the ground. Law 15.11 says “Once a ruck has formed no player may handle the ball unless they were able to get their hands on the ball before the ruck formed and stay on their feet.“ In addition to this, the law definition for the jackler says he/she must remain on their feet. So, while Aki did have his hands on the ball before the ruck was formed, he lost his footing before he’d clearly won the ball and so had to let it go and not play it once he left his feet. The real issue with all of this is the subjective decision about whether the jackler has won possession. A couple of years ago World Rugby put out a ruling that players must have their hands under the ball and clearly be trying to lift it off the ground. This stopped players like Richie, Pocock and others holding the ball into the player and trying to win the penalty, not win the ball. Some referees will give the ball to the jackler as soon as he has clearly got hands on the ball, others wait to see if he/she is actually attempting to lift the ball. Sometimes if the referee has felt that the jackler has won possession then they allow that to remain even if they lose their footing because at that time, they are then the ball carrier and as such are permitted to then place the ball once they are tackled. Of course, this all happens in split seconds and the referee will go with the picture they see and the bias they have towards either the defender or the attacker. The decision was certainly not incorrect from Luke Pearce and Ben Whitehouse, but it could also have gone the other way, maybe if they weren’t refereeing in South Africa at the time.
The 2nd issue, also in this game funnily enough, was when Kolbe scored a great try after James Lowe kept a ball in play from a kick. Now, not even going down the path of why you would try and flick the ball back with no one else from your team there to receive it allowing the opposition can pick it up and score, the issue was whether or not the ball was in or out of touch. Law 18.2.c says the ball is not in touch if: “A player jumps from the paying area and knocks (or catches and releases) the ball back into the playing area, before landing in touch, regardless of whether the ball has reached the plane of touch.” The issue here is whether the ball was still in contact with Lowe’s arm when he landed or not. To me the different screen shots and camera angles were a bit inconclusive. World Rugby has clearly set an agenda where advantage is to be given to the attacking team unless there is clear evidence to suggest it should go the other way. I don’t have too many issues with this as I think it allows a game to flow more and rewards the team that is trying to make something of the game rather than just defend. So, for this ruling the TMO would have to have been certain that Lowe still had contact with the ball when his foot touched the ground. I don’t think the TMO could’ve been certain and was happy with the ruling.
I know a fair few Irish fans aren’t happy with this call and while I would’ve accepted the TMO if it had gone the other way, I believe the inconclusive evidence call was correct. I can see why a biased supporter of the Irish would’ve seen it the other way, but that’s to be expected.
Rugby Australia and ACT Brumbies agree to integrated ownership model
Reported here in rugby.com.au, Rugby Australia (RA) and the ACT & Southern New South Wales Rugby Union (ACT&SNSWRU) have agreed to transfer operational control of the ACT Brumbies to the national governing body, demonstrating their shared commitment to work together to build an aligned high-performance system that will (hopefully) deliver improved results both on and off the field.
The ACT Brumbies professional rugby operations and related business assets have been transferred to a newly established entity (ACT&SNSWRU) which is owned and controlled by Rugby Australia. ACT&SNSWRU will retain full responsibility and accountability for developing the community game, and for delivering programs to grow participation in, and engagement with, grassroots rugby, working in close collaboration with both the ACT Brumbies and Rugby Australia. The new ACT Brumbies entity will be governed by its own board of directors comprising representatives nominated by RA, the ACT&SNSWRU and RUPA.
“Rugby Australia has committed to managing and supporting the organisation through an exciting period for Rugby in Australia,” said ACT Brumbies CEO Phil Thomson. “With this positive headway we are committed to the alignment of the high-performance and commercial operations between our club and Rugby Australia, to stabilise our financial position and ensure long term success and we believe this step is in the best interests of, not only the Brumbies and ACT& SNSWRU, but Australian Rugby as a whole.” He also stated.
Phil Waugh got in on the act with a couple of statements including: “RA is determined to ensure the club remains a force in professional rugby in this region.” and “the Brumbies and Waratahs have both seen the potential for great benefit in aligning their commercial operations with RA’s, as we look to achieve maximum commercial return and efficiency for the game.” and “I firmly believe that this strategic reset is in the best interests of the game – and crucially, it delivers even greater priority to strengthening the community game; ringfencing investment in the community game and allowing our member unions to focus entirely prioritising the needs of grassroots rugby free from the distraction of professional rugby.”
To me,it looks a bit like the Brumbies have joined the Waratahs in acknowledging they cannot run a professional entity in a sustainable manner and that they need RA to step in and provide the funding to do this. I guess with their funding issues they could’ve followed the Rebels in being forced to front up to this and could well have gone the same way. While I don’t really have a hard opinion on this and whether it is the correct decision or not, I do think that RA need to make some big changes if they want rugby to remain a professional sport here. That old saying of “Do what you’ve always done, and you’ll get what you’ve always got” is as true here as it is anywhere else. I don’t know what the changes are, but I hope this move isn’t just a deferral of the issues and will actually address them.
Scott Robertson reveals what he learnt about international rugby
Reported here Scott Robertson has had a bit of a wakeup call and admitted that he is adapting fast to international rugby. Robertson took charge of the All Blacks for the first-time last Saturday, and they were involved in a tightly fought contest with the Red Rose at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
It was his first taste of international rugby as a coach, and he came into Saturday’s encounter with high expectations after gaining plenty of success with the Crusaders as he guided them to seven Super Rugby titles during his stint as their head coach between 2017 and 2023.
Robertson admitted that he was learning fast about the rigours of Test rugby but paid tribute to England for the pressure they put on his side but also praised his senior players for the way they adapted to it. “It can swing pretty quickly. It was great football, I thought the opportunities we created in the first half we didn’t convert and put scoreboard pressure on,” he said. “They started the second half really well and, bang, the game changes so quickly. The margins, we didn’t quite nail what we supposed to and they kept us on the back foot. We were playing in our own garden for a long time weren’t we? When we had a couple of opportunities, the leaders stood up.”
An area of concern for the All Blacks was their lineout work, as they lost some on their throw-ins and Robertson singled out England lock Maro Itoje for special praise for the pressure he put on the All Blacks at the set-piece. “Maro… and we can probably be a little bit quicker,” said the coach when asked to identify the reason for his team underperforming in the lineouts. “We’ve just got to think a bit faster and be faster on our feet, but fair play to him, he’s an operator.”
England face a huge challenge in Saturday’s second Test at Eden Park as the venue has been a real fortress for the All Blacks who have been unbeaten in 48 consecutive Tests there stretching back to 1994.
Despite his side’s excellent record at the ground, Robertson is not reading too much into the Eden Park factor, although he realises the importance of New Zealand’s record there. “Well, the only advantage you have is in your performance and preparing for it” he added. “I said yesterday, there’s a respect for Eden Park and what the past All Blacks teams have done to perform and create.”
While the 49-year-old is confident his side will deliver a much-improved performance, he identified the key areas in which they have to be better. “I think we’ll be Test match aware,” said Robertson. “We’ve got to refine a few things and our job as coaches is to make sure we simplify things to make everyone think fast and act fast, and that’s when we’re at our best.”
I think that the ABs, like the Wallabies will be much better this week with a run under their belt. There is a big gap between Super and international rugby; however I’m confident the players will realise this and make the changes they need.
