“Fate whispers to the warrior, ‘you cannot withstand the storm’. The warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’”
Not only did Ireland weather the French storm, the team produced a full-on frontal system of their own, leaving Fabien Galthié with much to ponder upon. In the midst of the upsetting news that Conor Murray’s father, Gerry, had suffered serious injuries in a road collision while out cycling, Ireland somehow dug deep to deliver a very famous victory. Warriors, definitely.
This epic match was laced with controversy, courtesy of Wayne Barnes. When the fearsome Uini Atonio (152kg or 24 stone) collided with Rob Herring, everybody watching saw red, but the referee inexplicably talked it down, producing just yellow for the French man.
During the week Barnes had released his own home-made video, using Leonardo the ninja turtle – I’m not making that up – to demonstrate the thought process for issuing cards. Barnes told us how referees measure the level of danger, and that “hitting and slipping up may reduce the force on the head”; his own words. Yes, indeed, understood, but those words are fairly damning when viewing Atonio’s foul play.
The savage collision to the head was there for all to see, and for Herring to suffer. It was brutal, with zero reduction in force. Construing it as a tackle which slipped upwards is incomprehensible.
World Rugby, thankfully, have not circled the wagons on this one, and the citing commissioner has filed his report. While the ref was deliberating his call, the stumbling and confused Herring was forgotten, and not immediately removed. There had been plenty of time to get him off, and the reasons for the delay need close examination and should not to be repeated.
Beating 14 men would have had something of a hollow ring to it, and it’s a lot more satisfying to have done the business against a full complement, apart from Atonio’s 10-minute binning.
Some credit, though, is due to Barnes. He let play run, generally reading things well with good advantage, in a match which produced all of 46 minutes ball-in-play time, and only 15 penalties across a ferocious 80 minutes.
There was more controversy around the try that was. James Lowe’s acrobatics saw him plant the ball down perilously close to, or on, the touch-in-goal line, and with one foot in touch. TMO Brendon Pickerill may not have seen all the angles, or may not have been shown them, but the try award was wrong.
It was not helped by the second element involved. It is called the parallax effect, the position of the camera can displace the true position of the ball. Just close one eye, and put your forefinger opposite your nose, then open that eye and close the other, hey presto your finger has “moved,” that’s parallax. So we don’t actually know whether the ball was on the touch-in-goal line or not.
When use of TV footage first came into play, there were dedicated cameras, specifically positioned so that they looked directly along both the touch-in-goal lines, and the goal lines, thus giving a true picture, taking the displacement effect out of the equation. These should be reinstated. I doubt that WR are prepared to see major matches decided by misinformation. Work too is needed to guarantee that all footage is immediately available to the TMO.
France’s main threat was the mercurial Damien Penaud, who showed exceptional pace to avoid the clutches of the Irish defence for a wonderful try.
He also posed a threat to Johnny Sexton, with a hard tackle – late in my view – after the outhalf had released an inside pass. Referees should be able to judge these in real time, but the current modus operandi seems to leave these calls to the TMO, and if he says nought, then nought it is.
With England not exactly looking as if they’re heading for the World Cup final, I have Barnes pencilled in for it. While he’s still in pole position, it’s probably not a given, and one or two others will be discussed when that moment comes around.
In Murrayfield, Scotland looked very good but Wales were so poor that it’s impossible to judge the real level of Gregor Townsend’s men, who, nonetheless, represent a potential banana skin for Ireland.
Andy Brace was in charge and it’s good to see him much more relaxed these days; a good performance. But, while it’s an easy fix, his goal-line positioning and anticipation can still let him down, with TMO Brian MacNeice correctly advising the reversal of a “no try” decision.
England v Italy was a bore of a thing, English kicking and some pedantic whistling from New Zealander James Doleman didn’t help. Extraordinarily, the referee and TMO Eric Gauzins did not deal with an unacceptable and ill-tempered hit to the neck and face of Owen Farrell.
This X-rated advertisement for rugby needs a serious sanction for its main performer, Sebastian Negri, but it seems the citing commissioner hasn’t seen it as “red”. Riddle me that if you can.
Next weekend the championship pauses for a much-needed breather, with time allotted to lick some wounds. Then it’s Rome for Ireland, with Scotland’s Mike Adamson on the whistle. He needs a very good performance, it will be watched with great interest.
