Happyman is still keeping a low profile until the Epstein list is 100% confirmed to be not coming out, so my news edit is back on a Thursday. Today, we have a potential fullback shortage for the Lions, Wayne Barnes on the right amount of TMO, AUNZ fashion watch and some violin music from Middle Earth. Also, check out Nutta’s Brumbies v Lions write-up here.
Jock scratched? Blair Kinghorn could be on Lions injury list.
RugbyPass reports that one week after Elliot Daly suffered a tour-ending broken arm for the British & Irish Lions against the Reds, fellow fullback Blair Kinghorn has emerged as another injury concern. The Scotland fullback, who made his debut against the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday after teaming up with the squad late following Toulouse’s Top 14 triumph, received treatment to his left knee early on in Wednesday’s contest against the Brumbies. The 28-year-old continued to play, but was seen struggling to sprint one occasion, before being forced from the field after 25 minutes and receiving ice to his knee on the sideline.
Speaking at half-time, Lions assistant coach John Dalziel described the injury as a “knock”, saying the decision to take him off was “precautionary”. Kinghorn already entered the game with strapping to his right thigh, but this new issue looked far more serious.
Following Farrell’s decision to replace Elliot Daly with his son, Owen, the Lions will be left with only one recognised fullback, Hugo Keenan. Even then, Keenan missed the start of the tour due to a calf injury which cut short his season with Leinster before having to pull out of the match against the Reds with an illness, a match for which Daly was a last minute replacement.
Kinghorn’s replacement in the match against the Brumbies, Marcus “child’s haircut’ Smith, may be required to occupy the #15 jersey more frequently this tour as a consequence of this injury. Given his ability to cover both flyhalf and fullback, his chances of making the bench in the Test series will rise significantly should Kinghorn be ruled out.
Tommy Freeman is also capable of playing at fullback, as is Mack Hansen, but they’d be forced into playing a role they’re not entirely comfortable with (like Hoss’ junior colleagues when Team-Building Camp got weird).
Wayne Barnes on the TMO: “It’s there to get the big stuff”.
After a weekend of games arguably marred by pedantic TMO involvement (six tries ended up being ruled out) 1News.co.nz reports 111-test referee Wayne Barnes’ views on correct TMO usage.
“It’s there to get the big stuff, and so my view on that has always been the same. If you are sitting there as a match official and you’re thinking, ‘I’ve missed something here’ or you’re sitting on the sofa thinking, ‘Bloody hell, Barnes has missed a double movement there’ or ‘I’m sure there was a knock on at the base of the scrum’ – they’re the ones you should get. It’s not about scratching around for things.“ (G&GR’s emphasis)
“For me it has always been about preventing the big howler — I don’t need to remind any of you down in New Zealand — a decision that you might not see immediately, but you look at it once on the screen and think ‘we need to get that’ and then we need to move on. It’s not about ‘I wonder if’. If you’re not sure, let’s play on and let’s get the continuity in the game.”
Continuity remains one of the game’s biggest concerns. Rugby has worked to increase continuity through shot clocks, time limits for lineouts, and a reduction in dead time at the base of rucks and in mauls but, ironically, the sport’s own officiating system often contributes the most to stoppages in a game.
Barnes conceded that there was more to be done but suggested that continued improvement will only be found if there is buy-in across the board. “The best games of rugby I’ve ever been involved with are the ones that don’t stop. Go back to that quarter final (New Zealand v Ireland) in the Rugby World Cup in 2023. 44 minutes ball in play, started off with 35 phases, finished off with 40+ phases. Those are the games which as a fan – and I am a fan as well – I want to see. Get the big stuff, don’t worry about the little stuff, and if it hits you in the face, those are the ones you should be looking for.”
“We’ve all got a part to play in that and not just telling the referee to speed the game up. That can be the coaches not telling their props to go down. That could be the players not taking a knee. That could be the broadcasters. If you watched the Argentina-England match on the weekend, trying to get the right angle for some of those TMO replays took 30 or 40 seconds. That’s time when people end up chatting to their mate sitting next to them or flicking the TV channel. We all need to work together to get that continuity.”
Ian Foster in green and gold for Saturday’s AUNZ v Lions game
stuff.co.nz reports (and has photos of) former NZ coach in green and gold gear. Foster is teaming up with Wallabies coach-to-be Les Kiss this week, as they take charge of the AUNZ Invitational XV to play the British & Irish Lions in Adelaide on Saturday night.
The players’ and coaches’ kit is predominantly green and gold with a black strip at the bottom of the jersey (or black sleeves for the coaches’ tracksuit tops). Asked by the media on Tuesday if he had “got used to wearing a bit of green and gold on [his] kit yet,” Foster was quick to point where his tracksuit top did acknowledge New Zealand’s contribution to the AUNZ team. “I think Les is taking the mickey – every time I sign something green and gold he takes a photo of it, so I’m in trouble later in the week I think.”
Nick Wasiliev names the whole AUNZ squad (including home club and country) here.
All Blacks being over scrutinised by refs, apparently.
According to PlanetRugby, Kiwi journalist Gregor Paul says the All Blacks are now being harshly treated by the officials.
“It’s also hard – given the now extensive number of occasions in which the All Blacks have been the victims of contentious decisions by match officials that have come after prolonged and heavy-duty investigative work – not to wonder whether they are on some kind of World Rugby watch list,” Paul remarked in his New Zealand Herald column.
“It has reached the point now where you don’t need to be a tinfoil-hat wearer living off-grid to wonder if the All Blacks are the victims of some kind of hardline policy within the refereeing fraternity to ensure that every try they score is to be forensically reviewed. So, too, is it entirely reasonable to ask whether match officials have been told or at least encouraged to take more time or even a different approach to determining the outcomes of potential acts of foul play committed by the All Blacks.”
Gregor Paul claimed that the officials are ignoring protocol in order to search for All Black indiscretions beyond their reach. He added: “If this is all a giant, baseless conspiracy theory, then how can it be that Mbonambi got away with bouncing the ball over the tryline and none of the officials felt there was any need to check. This pattern of the All Blacks being treated one way and every other leading nation a different way has been going on for too long now to ignore and Saturday’s game in Dunedin has only added to the sense of inequity.”
“This intense scrutiny of the All Blacks is rugby’s equivalent of racial profiling. It assumes the All Blacks are guilty of some sort of infringement based on a historical belief they were the undeserving beneficiaries of too many favourable refereeing calls back in the pre-technological age.”
