Scotland v Wales anticlimax an avoidable anachronism in digital age
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Version 0 of 1. These days you do not need a wristwatch to tell the time. There are stop-watches and alarms on your mobile phone, which can also vibrate when required. In most major stadiums there are massive electronic replay screens as well as smaller game clocks. You do not require a Swiss cuckoo or a perspiring, harassed referee to work out precisely when a Six Nations match should end. It is a similar story with television referrals when a try may or may not have been scored. How difficult can it be? If the referee is unsure or unsighted, he can ask the man upstairs. If the man upstairs has no conclusive footage, then a try should not be awarded. “Try: Yes or No?” should be the only question. Relying on the hunch of someone who thinks he may have seen something but cannot be totally sure is no way to settle major, high-profile fixtures. Imagine if our judicial system worked the same way. “Is there any reason I can’t find the defendant guilty?” “Your honour, we can’t really tell if he did it or not but feel free to lock him up anyway.” Then there are the refereeing inconsistencies which, during crucial stages of Sunday’s game, allowed Wales players to infringe repeatedly in their own 22 against Scotland without anyone being shown a card. No one is saying the home side were not partly the architects of their own downfall at Murrayfield but let’s just say Vern Cotter will not be congratulating his fellow Kiwi, Glen Jackson, on his officiating when he files his post-match observations. Or, come to that, the assistant referee George Clancy, who at times seemed to forget it was Jackson, not him, who was meant to be in charge. The biggest irony is that Jackson used to be Cotter’s fly-half at Bay of Plenty. At this rate their relationship will be rougher than the Bay of Biscay. The net result, either way, was that most unsatisfactory of sporting outcomes: when everyone leaves the stadium, or rises from the sofa, the talk is about the officials more than the players. Admittedly Scotland dilly-dallied after Jon Welsh scored his late try – there was an unnecessary outbreak of pushing and shoving and Finn Russell should have taken his conversion more quickly – but every TV viewer knew there was still time for the Scots to enjoy one final, if improbable, roll of the dice. Instead a voice in Jackson’s ear told him to blow for full-time. Cue Scottish anger and neutral confusion. Frankly it was not Jackson’s fault; the tournament organisers and World Rugby, in conjunction with the host broadcasters, all need to take an urgent look at their seemingly flawed protocols. For the second week running – following the George North concussion saga in Cardiff – there has been confusion because of a lack of in-ground clarity on information which was fully available to everyone at home. We are not talking here about a small village fete where it doesn’t matter if a ferret escapes up the vicar’s trousers occasionally. The Six Nations is a global sporting phenomenon, with a huge TV audience and 67,000 people in the ground. Surely it is not beyond the wit of man, or woman, to have a timekeeper – let’s call him the Time Lord – who, independent of the referee, ensures the clock is turned off at the correct moments and does not need to be told when to turn it back on again? And, when the moment comes, is in charge of sounding a hooter so that everyone knows when 80 minutes is up. If sides are running back for a restart the Magnus Magnusson clause could apply – you’ve started so you’ll finish. None of this, let us repeat, is remotely complicated. There should also be a rethink about players who collide with opponents in the air. Yes, Dan Biggar was lucky not to hurt himself badly when Russell – who has been cited – made contact as the former went to gather a garryowen. But surely the law is primarily designed to protect the catcher, not the chaser? What was Russell supposed to do when Biggar threw himself at the ball? The Scottish fly-half spotted the looming danger only at the last minute, tried to pull out and still got a yellow card for being precisely where he had to be if he wanted to gather the kick. In terms of recklessness, you could argue as much fault lay with Biggar. Players are clearly being coached to get off the ground because they know the law is then weighted in their favour. But to penalise the receiver for standing his ground is like pinging a football goalkeeper for obstruction as he goes to catch a corner. Safer and fairer, surely, to decree no player from the kicking side can challenge for possession until the defender has touched a descending ball and has returned to terra firma. We could go on and on. Rugby is tying itself in avoidable knots when it should be looking to simplify and streamline itself at a crucial juncture in its professional development. This is not the best moment to be talking about grey areas – there seem to be 50, in various shades, wherever you go – but it is about time rugby had fewer of them. Pitch perfect As the debate on rugby union’s future shape continues, the weekend reinforced one crucial area. Watch the start of the new Super Rugby season and the playing surfaces were fantastic. Contrast that with Leicester v Gloucester at Welford Road, which was played on a mud-heap. These things occasionally happen – following a concert at the stadium last year the grass has not recovered in certain areas – and the weather in Leicester in February is not always comparable to Perth. That said, delivering consistently good surfaces for rugby – rain or shine – should be a higher priority in the northern hemisphere. How long before professional clubs are docked points, as in county cricket, for producing sub-standard pitches? One to watch London Irish v Leicester. It may be Six Nations time but this is also a crucial stage of the season for Leicester, currently in seventh place in the Premiership despite their narrow win last Friday night. The sides above them are all in decent nick and only a doomed London Welsh have scored fewer tries in this season’s competition. Coincidentally Irish have also managed only 21 tries in their 14 games but almost beat Northampton away last time out. This Sunday’s game in Reading is suddenly a big one for the Tigers. |