OWENS: SORRY PASCAL, IT WAS NOT A TRY
NIGEL Owens believes neither of Wales’ first two tries in their Triple Crown-clinching victory over England should have stood. There was huge controversy over the first-half touchdowns from Josh Adams and Liam Williams during the 40-24 win for Wayne Pivac’s men at the Principality Stadium.
Now World Cup final referee Owens has delivered his verdict on both of them.
The first came on 16 minutes when fly-half Dan Biggar put in a pinpoint cross-kick for winger Adams to score out on the left.
That provoked a furious response from England captain Owen Farrell who argued with referee Pascal Gauzere that his team hadn’t been given sufficient time to re-set after Farrell had passed on a warning to them about too many penalties.
But Gauzere rejected Farrell’s complaints and awarded the try.
Giving his thoughts, Welshman Owens said: “The referee clearly says ‘Time on’, so then Biggar is quite entitled to do what he does quickly.
“But I think Owen Farrell’s point here is correct.
“If you are asking the captain to speak to his team, I certainly wouldn’t restart time until I have given them time to line up in defence.
“The only reason they are in a huddle under the posts is you have told the captain to speak to his players and he puts time off for them to do that.
“So, you can’t put time back on then while they are still in the huddle.
“You are not giving them the time to line up to defend. It’s an unfair advantage.”
The second contentious Wales try came on 29 minutes when the officials decided there had not been a knock-on by Louis ReesZammit ahead of full-back Liam Williams touching down.
But Owens views the incident in a different light.
“It was definitely a knock-on,” he said, elaborating on the points he made on S4C.
“What the law says is if a player loses control of the ball forward, he must regain possession of it before it touches the ground or anybody else. So, in this case, Rees-Zammit definitely touches the ball and it travels forward on to his calf, then goes backwards and then comes off an England player.
“So it has travelled forward off his hand first and he fails to regain possession of it, which means it’s a knock-on.”
WALES banked their first silverware of the Wayne Pivac era by lifting the Triple Crown after beating England 40-24 at the Principality Stadium.
It was a match laced with controversy amid two disputed Welsh tries. But, ultimately, after three rounds of Six Nations matches Wales are unbeaten and in the hunt for a Grand Slam.
England, by contrast, are not in a great place, their title hopes in tatters and their hot heads on Saturday contrasted sharply with the control and measured calmness of their opposite numbers.
MARK ORDERS lists the winners and losers from a game that won’t easily be forgotten...
WINNERS WAYNE PIVAC
Quietly, Wales’ coach is doing plenty of things right in this Six Nations.
After making some big calls that came off at Murrayfield, he was at it again against England, seven substitutions by the 66th minute rather than waiting until starters became overly tired and performances deteriorated.
The strategy helped Wales to finish strongly. For some, the jury will still be out on Pivac, with memories of the horror year that was 2020 still fresh.
But much more of this and the doubters will become fewer in number.
A Triple Crown is an achievement worth celebrating.
The coach and those around him deserve a pat on the back.
TAULUPE FALETAU
He is still the same man of few words who strolled into the Wales setup a decade ago. “He wouldn’t say boo to a goose but he’d charge a rhino,” someone was to write about him.
And watching his man-of-the-match interview after the game against England he hasn’t changed a bit. He’s still a man who lets his rugby do the talking.
How good was he on Saturday?
There were 18 carries for 43 metres and 14 tackles. When Wales were in trouble, invariably it was Faletau (circled, right) who appeared to ease their concerns. When they needed go-forward up front, it was Faletau who put his hand up for carrying duties.
He had an injury-plagued spell when it appeared Wales might have lost him as a world-class entity.
But over the last half-dozen games he’s proven the old adage of form being temporary, class permanent.
It been wonderful to see. What a player.
JOSH ADAMS
His match stats might not look much, but he scored a try, set one up and did no end of chasing and work without the ball.
It was a fine way to return after his ban for breaching Covid regulations.
And it was the kind of display that the watching Warren Gatland would have enjoyed.
If there was any doubt about Adams making the Lions squad this summer, it’s almost certainly been removed.
SAM WARBURTON
Anyone wanting to go on telly and talk about rugby should watch the former Wales captain.
His punditry is top class. He’s articulate, knowledgeable, occasionally self-deprecating, up-to-date and free from bias. There are not many better in his field in sport, full stop.
THE WALES TEAM
It’s been some upturn from the miseries of autumn.
All concerned have worked ferociously hard.
They have enjoyed some luck along the way but in other seasons fortune hasn’t smiled on them. What’s been especially impressive is that they’ve managed to find a way to win in all three games they’ve played so far. And they still have scope to get better.
For their coach, that’s an exciting prospect.
BILLY VUNIPOLA
Masochists Anonymous could have been interested in signing up Vunipola after he positively flogged himself during the build-up to the match in Cardiff, describing his form as “rubbish” and saying he’d been a “coward” for hiding in games in this Six Nations.
But he was England’s best player by a mile against Wales.
He didn’t miss anything in defence and bulldozed his way forward with ball in hand, making 94 metres from his 15 carries.
If the rest of the No. 8’s team-mates had played to his standard, England would not have had to concern themselves over refereeing decisions and the like.
WALES’ BENCH
The irony is that before the game many would have said England’s pool of replacements looked stronger. But it turned out Wales boasted special reserves, none more so than Callum Sheedy and Cory Hill. They were exceptional. Sheedy made a nonsense of concerns about his goal-kicking with a 100 per cent return: five kicks attempted, every one nailed.
He also came up with a couple of line breaks and looked creative. Hill played with real authority. In just 25 minutes he took five lineouts, put in six tackles, helped fashion a turnover and drove hard with the ball.
His was a display of real impact. All the Welsh subs had their moments.
But in Sheedy and Hill, Pivac had two who were integral to his side’s win.
LOSERS MARO ITOJE
The man is an outstanding rugby player who plays on the edge.
Unfortunately, referees are becoming wise to him.
So far in this championship he has conceded 10 penalties, four more than anyone else.
Maybe he’s the closest thing we have in modern rugby to a penalty machine.
There’s a fine line between operating on the boundaries of the laws and incurring the wrath of officials.
Right now, Itoje is on the wrong side of it.
EDDIE JONES
He has enough to concern him with his team’s form.
But it’s been pointed out that the last time England lost to Wales and Scotland in a Six Nations season their coach at the time, Brian Ashton, found himself out of a job within a matter of weeks.
Jones surely has credit in the bank after guiding England to the last World Cup final.
Presumably that’s what Ashton thought after he pulled off the same achievement in 2007.
Jones’ priority must be to sort out his team’s discipline.
That should improve their results. But with France to be played next and then Ireland in Dublin it’s a tough end to the season for Eddie’s boys.
The expectation is that Jones will work things out.
But for him right now these are indisputably worrying times.
PASCAL GAUZERE
Should the match referee be in this section?
There are competing views.
But it didn’t seem right that ahead of Josh Adams’ try, play was allowed to restart with water carriers still on the pitch and after the official himself had asked Owen Farrell to speak with his players.
Credit Dan Biggar’s cool-head awareness and execution with that pinpoint diagonal-kick, mind.
And England should have been more alert.
Presumably, we’ll have a ruling from officialdom any time soon on the legality or otherwise of Wales’ second touchdown.
Tentatively, then, Gauzere finds himself in here, subject to clarification from a higher authority.
ABUSE OF SONJA MCLAUGHLAN
Hers is a tough job, asking questions to players and coaches with minimal time to prepare if the queries are related directly to events of a game that’s finished minutes earlier.
With millions watching, the BBC reporter is damned if she does pursue a particular line of questioning, damned if she doesn’t.
If she hadn’t asked Owen Farrell about the two disputed Welsh tries on Saturday evening, she would have been accused of not doing her job properly.
She gets the same treatment because she did ask him.
The scores were the main talking points of the game.
Social media means everyone has a megaphone now, and McLaughlan retreated to her car in tears after the game in the wake of being called toxic, embarrassing, disgraceful and appalling.
What to say?
Rugby’s a game – yes, one that provokes intense passions, but still a game.
And McLaughlan is human like the rest of us.
Being abusive to her because of a subjective dislike of her questions isn’t great. In fact, it’s mean-spirited and nasty.
Those responsible should take a good look at themselves.