Has everyone calmed down yet? Eh, seemingly not. In the fallout of the tumultuous Ireland-South Africa game, it appears even The Irish Times could have come with a health warning such has been the almost daily critique of modern international rugby as we’ve come to know it.
Apparently, it’s now unwatchable and poisonous, and even Conor Murray thinks rugby is in serious trouble, and we can’t afford to not take Ireland’s greatest and recently retired scrumhalf seriously. Maybe they’re all right. Maybe we should throw Test rugby in the bin, and everyone can take up tiddlywinks instead.
True, it was yet another bad month for World Rugby’s foul play processes, and the officiating of said processes. Three rescinded cards should not be happening with up to five officials adjudicating on each instance, any more than Matthew Carley and his officials coming to the wrong conclusion that Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s high hit on Tommy O’Brien didn’t warrant a card.
In seemingly letting Rassie Erasmus get inside their heads, both the TMO and Carley were far too hasty in wrongly decreeing that the initial contact was to the chest and there was no evidence the Boks outhalf didn’t attempt to use his arms.
It was an infuriating decision. It incensed the crowd and had a seismic affect on both Carley’s refereeing thereafter and perceptions of it, as when not yellow carding Pieter-Steph du Toit before doing so to Jack Crowley three minutes later for an identical offence.
Carley did similar when Toulouse beat Leinster after extra time, hastily binning James Lowe for batting the ball out of play having not come to the same decision when Anthony Jelonch committed the same offence to deny Dan Sheehan a try early on.
Yet English pundits believe Carley had a great game on both occasions.
Murray’s description of Carley as a snowball referee seems apt. What made Carley’s decision on Feinberg-Mngomezulu even more ridiculous was that he had the cop-out of a yellow card and referring the incident to the bunker review for a possible 20-mintue red card.
This system initially worked in speeding up the game, affording officials time to make more considered decisions away from the heat of the moment and the baying crowd. But for some reason this process has become blurred and a personal view is that the 20-minute red card, which is still being trialled, is not fit for purpose.
But so much of this gloom-laden, over-wrought reaction has largely been exclusive to Ireland and has not been mirrored remotely in any of the other countries involved in the Autumn Nations Series. As ever, it seems so much of the bleatings about officiating and the health of the game hinges, in large part, on the result.
If Ireland’s midfield attack had not got its wires crossed and instead taken that try-scoring opportunity in the 77th minute they could have set up a grandstand finish. It makes you wonder then what the reaction might have been, never mind if they had turned that finish into possibly Ireland’s greatest win ever.
Last Saturday was a compelling contest and one of the most defiant Irish performances in history. Any match which can arouse a crowd at the Aviva into such a fervour must have something going for it. Indeed, former English and Lions winger Ugo Monye declared the match “simply sensational”, concluding the game had “absolutely everything”.
The general consensus in England – helped by their first autumnal clean sweep since 2016, extending their unbeaten run to 11 games – is that this series was one of their best ever.
True, the changed emphasis towards kicking has suited Steve Borthwick’s prescriptive rugby, but that is a debate for another day. They are unearthing talent aplenty and you couldn’t but appreciate Max Ojomoh scoring one try and setting up another two.
France had their noses bloodied by the Boks pack, but inspired by Louis Bielle-Biarrey scoring two tries and setting up another, Les Bleus rediscovered their mojo.
They also unearthed another gem from their production line in the 20-year-old Toulouse centre Kalvin Bourges, who laid on Bielle-Biarrey’s second with a memorable first touch in Test rugby, opening up a tiring Wallabies defence for a 50-metre break before putting his winger away.
Let’s remove our green-tinged glasses for a moment.
Back in 2022 and 2023, Ireland had beaten the Springboks in three of the four previous meetings, had won a series in New Zealand, a Grand Slam and 17 Tests in a row, climbing to number one in the world rankings, with their discipline and scrummaging representing pillars of their success.
Who in Ireland was complaining about officiating, or refereeing interpretation, or the scrum then? Who in Ireland felt the game was effectively doomed?
For all the failings of Carley and his officials last week, imagine for a moment an admittedly unlikely role-reversal. If Ireland had been the ones with the upper hand in the scrum, using it as a foundation for a 24-13 win, would there have been anything like the same outcry in these pages and elsewhere about the supposed state of the game?
