All Blacks v Lions Second Test: 10 Reffing Talking Points
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By Scott MacLean
- You can’t do what Sonny Bill did, in this climate. End of
- Its remarkable that it took the Lions so long to adjust, before they ultimately prevailed.
- Itoje brought the niggle he’s renown for, but probably needed to be shown a seat for being a repeat offender
- If World Rugby is serious about tidying up the game, Vunipola should have been shown red; you can’t fly off your feet and smash someone in the face with a forearm. We should hear more about that
- Did Rieko Ioane even touch the ball tonight?
- Lions defence was much much improved. Their discipline was not
- Garces got flustered. The consistency of his decisions was off, if not non-existent
- The penalty against Faumuina was technically correct, but the law is an ass in that regard
- Not the hardest penalty Farrell will ever kick, but easily the most important
- Bring on next weekend. Its going to be epic!
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Add point 11: The referee committed a major blunder in not reviewing Connor Murray’s crucial try. The fact is the law was clearly broken. TJ Perenara’s legs were grabbed at from an offside Lion diving through the breakdown with the ball nowhere in sight, Perenara was palpably tripped and stumbled sideways. This cleared the way for Murray to go on unimpeded to the line for the try.
Forget all the talk about the Lions deserving their victory. It’s a moot point. The fact is the decision should have at least been reviewed (the All Blacks protested it vociferously straight away). If it had been reviewed it would’ve been almost certainly disallowed and the All Blacks would be going back to Eden Park at 2-0. Whether they would have deserved to or not is, as I said, absolutely beside the point.
And calling my debate sour grapes would be just as stupid as the decision to award the try, just by the way.
Your comments are spot on there Scott.
Although not related to this game directly, Vunipola has previous on the dirty side of things. Last week’s “Christmas hold” laughing-off without the slightest degree of contrition.
I doubt he will play again next week. However, I think he lacks the intellect to know the difference between aggression and out-and-out filth. He is a disgrace..