Ref got Basham call right
Our f ormer elite of f icial assesses a contentious moment in Wales
RUGBY’S RETURN has brought new reminders of what World Rugby is looking for in order to speed up the game. The chat about cleaning up the tackle area has brought short-lived hope and then the realisation that nothing really changes, players don’t improve their behaviour and most referees get caught in two camps, with continuity on one side and penalties (and structure) on the other.
There was a good example of this in the Dragons v Scarlets game recently. The Dragons had a try disallowed after
Taine Basham was deemed to be in an offside position as opposition nine Kieran Hardy tried to pass. The ball went loose and Jared Rosser scooped it up, ran and thought he’d scored… only for play to be brought back on TMO advice.
The officials received much criticism. But while the process looked poor, the outcome was actually correct. And refereeing is all about outcomes.
Many say Basham was trying to be positive and get back onside. He was – but he was still in the way. Referee Craig Evans should have penalised Basham at the time. It certainly looks better as disallowing a try is never great! You can’t let players control the contact area or you’ll have pandemonium and players in the way all the time.
Credit to Hardy for attempting the pass, but I suspect other scrum-halves would have thrown the ball directly at Basham to make it obvious to the referee he was in the way.
Players have to be more aware of their environment and be prepared to react better to the half-back. Trying to do the right thing is not enough – you have to do the right thing and in this case, it was to stay completely out of the way.