Owen Doyle: Johnny Sexton has only himself to blame and was handed a light-touch sentence If the Ireland captain received just a three match ban, what level of misconduct would earn a stiffer sentence?Tue Aug 08 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: No call for four-letter words about the referee after Munster’s deserved win Andrea Piardi made some curious decisions but his officiating did not determine the result, which was admirable enough to match anything Munster have achieved down the yearsMon May 29 2023 - 16:14
Owen Doyle: Leinster may yet gripe at several cup final refereeing decisionsLeo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster will have plenty of legitimate questions, but the final inquest will focus on off-field affairsMon May 22 2023 - 20:52
Owen Doyle: Leo Cullen was right not to be a Jack Russell to the referee Munster may reinvigorate a great rivalry, and Jack Crowley showed why drop goals are so preciousMon May 15 2023 - 20:12
Please rugby referees, no tinkering with the laws – your job is hard enoughAndrea Piardi was the best referee of the weekend showing game knowledge, decisiveness and communicationTue May 09 2023 - 05:00
Leinster v La Rochelle: We’re in for a final of epic proportions, but who will referee it? Tony Spreadbury, the European referee manager, will be scratching his headTue May 02 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Dearth of refereeing talent in three countries a problem for the URC Individual Unions are responsible for developing match officials and some are more interested than othersMon Apr 24 2023 - 17:16
World Rugby’s trial of new foul play system sends confused message so close to World CupOutline includes nothing about how violent head collisions might be avoided during tournamentTue Apr 18 2023 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: It’s important to remember that sometimes teams deserve to play with fewer playersAn incident in Australia suggested the new red card protocol will not take off if it leads to referees ignoring a key optionMon Apr 10 2023 - 21:31
Owen Doyle: URC referees need to start cutting the mustardAdamson’s failure to produce a red card, not a yellow, for La Rochelle’s Colombe was a key moment in the French club’s narrow defeat of GloucesterTue Apr 04 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: World Rugby’s judicial system must err on the side of caution Players have a duty of care to their peers and nobody should forget the tragic case of Dani CzernuszkaTue Mar 28 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: England would do well to behave like IrelandAndy Farrell and his coaching team deserve great credit for Ireland’s disciplinary record, which contrats with England’s poor oneTue Mar 21 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Battle-scarred Ireland limp away – but with the spoilsGiven what Farrell’s men endured, it was a quite brilliant display which left the Scots bereft of ideas long before the endTue Mar 14 2023 - 05:00
New red card rules may change the whole dynamic of dangerous play in rugbyEveryone is agreed the system needs to change to ensure player safety, but not everyone can agree on how to do itMon Mar 06 2023 - 18:55
Six Nations: Ireland have shown that avoiding red cards and dangerous hits is possibleIreland got out of jail in their Six Nations game against Italy as McCloskey avoids yellow cardMon Feb 27 2023 - 18:45
Concussion in rugby: Amateur game must limit head injuries if it is to have a futureOwen Doyle: Concussions are occurring in school and club rugby and that puts the game in a high-risk placeTue Feb 21 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Epic match laced with controversy courtesy of BarnesPresiding official played his role in a memorable game but inexplicably failed to brandish a red card for Atonio’s dangerous hit on HerringTue Feb 14 2023 - 05:00
Six Nations 2023: Dominant Ireland progress after win over Wales despite TMO’s failingsHow a referee can trust his TMO to make a crucial decision without checking for himself is beyond meTue Feb 07 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Referees’ heads also on the block when it comes to World Cup selectionSix Nations’ officials staking claims to be selected for France 2023 panelTue Jan 31 2023 - 19:00
Owen Doyle: Healy’s harsh yellow card dented Munster hopes of famous winIn stark contrast, a huge smash into Carberry by Toulouse’s Arnold went unpunished during another weekend of rugby’s House of CardsTue Jan 24 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: World Rugby miss critical opportunity to rein in dangerThe guardians of the game failed to come up with a plan to address head-high hits, and also failed to improve scrums and advantage playTue Jan 10 2023 - 05:00
Punishment falls short of crime for flawed Joe Marler Harlequins player deemed guilty by RFU panel of referring to Bristol Bears opponent’s mother as worker in sex industryTue Jan 03 2023 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Another weekend of dangerous hits, does anybody really care?Decision not to penalise Andrew Warwick’s head-on-head contact with Manu Tuilagi is confusingTue Dec 13 2022 - 05:00
Baffling red card reversals leave fans wondering: when will powers that be wake up?Decisions on Cian Healy and Antoine Dupont cards cause even more confusion on what constitutes foul playFri Dec 09 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: As Wales and England ponder coaching changes, World Rugby need to sort out refereeing South Africa remain a formidable World Cup obstacle to IrelandTue Nov 29 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Referees must remember they are not the centre of attentionOwen Doyle: Over-fussy refereeing now becoming a blight on the gameTue Nov 22 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Coaches and World Rugby must address blight spoiling the gameCoaches need to address players’ dangerous tackling and clearing-out techniques and World Rugby must ruthlessly apply meaningful suspensionsTue Nov 15 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: South Africa’s brutal approach was little about sportIt was utterly impossible to find anything to admire in the visitors’ approachTue Nov 08 2022 - 05:00
Rugby must heed the warning signs and stamp out dissent and abuse of officialsIf dissent is tolerated at the highest echelons, it’s certain to be seen in the lower gradesFri Nov 04 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: World Rugby’s disciplinary system remains clearly inadequate Rugby is crying out for a robust, meaningful system of sanctions for red cardsTue Oct 25 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: A severe case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time Owen Doyle - The Ref's Call: England lost narrowly to France 10-9 in Le Crunch and my untimely intervention was blamed for costing them a tryFri Oct 14 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Ryan Jones diagnosis provides rugby with yet another existential crisisCelebrations in Wellington interrupted by latest piece of harrowing news from a former playerTue Jul 19 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Magnificent Ireland’s margin of victory should have been greater New Zealand were very fortunate not to have another player sent off and Ireland were denied a blatant penalty tryTue Jul 12 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Ireland look to have bitten off more than they can chew in New Zealand Injuries, Johnny Sexton’s failed HIA and losses in the opening two games leave backs against the wallTue Jul 05 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Champions Cup about to get a lot tougher for Irish teamsIntroduction of South African teams is going to radically change the successful formula of the European Champions CupMon Jun 27 2022 - 19:00
Owen Doyle: Referee eyes becoming more blind to foul play Greater TMO power in new World Rugby protocol only accelerates already prevalent trendTue Jun 21 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Adamson’s performance review in Stormers win to make for interesting readingOver the post or not, decision to not even review last kick given its magnitude a strange oneTue Jun 14 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Munster fail to learn lesson to play to the whistle Andrea Piardi is an interesting referee prospect but has a way to go yetTue Jun 07 2022 - 05:00
Owen Doyle: Why was Etzebeth cheap shot not a cheap shot?South African lock courted controversy for a collision with Lyon’s Davit Niniashvili in Challenge Cup finalTue May 31 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Referees damned if they do, damned if they don’t on red cardsThree finals is a huge achievement for Barnes and he is standing the test of timeTue May 24 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Referee’s performance didn’t affect outcome one jot at the AvivaAll in all it wasn’t a great weekend for the men in the middle in European semi-finalsTue May 17 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: You cannot depend on the TMO as a refereeLuke Pearce was late into in-goal for the first Munster try and he knew it tooTue May 10 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Professional game a dangerous place for amateur playersA non-stop Trojan effort due to ability gap raises a very serious player welfare issueTue May 03 2022 - 06:00
Continuation of foul play yet another shocking advert for rugbySurely now coaches must be held to account, and what are World Rugby doing?Tue Apr 19 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Unacceptable face of rugby was on full show over the weekendGibson-Park should’ve seen red as too many brutal collisions went far beyond legal limitsTue Apr 12 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Paltry suspensions for dangerous tackles need to be shown the red cardWhy not equate the length of suspension to the period of an injured player’s rehabilitationTue Apr 05 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Wayne Barnes’ loud continuous communication is over the topScotland captain Stuart Hogg could learn a lot about leadership from the ItaliansTue Mar 22 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: Not even South Africa could've resisted England's illegal scrumReal question now for James Ryan is how many serious knocks to the head are enoughTue Mar 15 2022 - 06:00
Owen Doyle: It’s clear that advantage law has become a contradiction of itselfA law interpreted differently depending on the position of play on the pitch is wrongTue Mar 08 2022 - 08:05
Owen Doyle: Full ramifications of uncontested scrum law an accident waiting to happenTo have anything written into law which reduces a team to 13 for one red card is daftTue Mar 01 2022 - 06:00
