Hard done by? Not a bit of it as we review big-game flashpoints
IT probably won’t have escaped your attention that there are a few unhappy Aussies out there today.
Their players, coach, pundits and fans are all up in arms over a number of controversial calls during the 29-25 World Cup defeat in Tokyo.
So do they have a point or is it a case of whinging Wallabies? Were they hard done by or are there two sides to the story?
Rugby correspondent Simon Thomas assesses the key incidents and delivers his verdict.
Tipuric taken out
This is one you won’t have seen the Aussies talking about too much.
It happened in the build-up to their first try on 21 minutes.
There was nothing wrong with the finish from veteran winger Adam Ashley-Cooper, but spool back a bit and you’ll come across a pretty blatant offence which should have seen the score ruled out.
With the Wallabies on the Welsh 22, scrum-half Will Genia picked up from a ruck and sent out a pass to centre James O’Connor.
As he moved left, O’Connor dummied a pass to hooker Tolu Lotu who came on a decoy run, with the ball actually going out to Samu Kerevi. But critically, Lotu crashed into Justin Tipuric as he continued his decoy burst, knocking the Wales flanker to the ground and taking him out of the game.
That created a hole in the defensive line and centre Kerevi proceeded to cut back inside and pour through the precise space which Tipuric would have been occupying.
With the line breached, the Wallabies grabbed their chance as Bernard Foley put in a cross-kick to Ashley-Cooper with advantage being played.
It was a well executed score, but had Lotu’s off-the-ball felling of Tipuric been spotted by the officials, it surely wouldn’t have stood.
The Kerevi call
This is the incident which has provoked the most debate of all.
On 36 minutes, powerful Wallaby centre Samu Kerevi carried the ball up into Rhys Patchell, knocking the replacement Welsh outside-half to the deck.
Play continued, but then, at the next stoppage, referee Romain Poite indicated he was going to check for an act of potential foul play after being alerted by TMO Ben Skeen.
The end result was Kerevi being penalised for his forearm connecting with Patchell’s throat.
That’s when the fun and games began!
Exasperated Aussie skipper Michael Hooper proceeded to question the decision with Poite, accusing Patchell of “terrible tackle technique” and insisting that Kerevi had just done “a very good carry”.
The French referee was not to be moved however and the penalty stood, with Patchell rubbing salt in the wounds by slotting the resulting kick.
Poite’s call led to a post-match outcry from the Wallaby camp, with Michael Cheika saying he was embarrassed by the decision, while Kerevi said he might as well switch to rugby league, adding that if people wanted to play touch they should go and play basketball.
So do the Aussies have a case? Well, yes, it was fair for Hooper to question Patchell’s technique because it was the kind of upright tackle which World Rugby is trying to stamp out because it involves a high risk of contact to the head.
But it would only have been an illegal tackle if he had hit Kerevi’s head and that didn’t happen.
In contrast, a forearm fend to the neck area by a ball carrier is illegal under the laws as they stand.
And it’s pretty clear Kerevi was guilty of that, as Poite patiently explained to Hooper.
He acknowleged that the initial contact had been to Patchell’s chest, but that Kerevi had then pushed up with his forearm into the Welshman’s throat, which is not allowed.
It’s fair to say a lot of Aussies remain unhappy with his decision, with former Wallaby star Matt Giteau one of many to comment critically, Tweeting: “Let’s just play touch rugby instead.”
He expresses the find of opinion which many ex-players share, along the lines of the game’s gone soft.
You can understand it to an extent because they probably don’t recognise this as the sport they played.
But I guess that is the whole point, with the game having changed significantly even in the few years since Giteau last played Test rugby in terms of the clampdown on head contact, amid a determination to enhance player welfare and avoid future litigation.
As Poite succintly put it in his conversation with Hooper: “That is about security”.
Aussie bemusement over the Kerevi call is also possibly influenced by the prominence of rugby league in the country, where such carries are ten a penny.
But this is rugby union and, whether you agree with the laws or not, forearm contact with the throat is illegal.
In northern hemisphere rugby, such carries more often than not result in penalties and sometimes in cards.
So with a Frenchman at the helm, punishment was always likely.
Once the incident was reviewed, there was only going to be one outcome.
Hooper’s hypocrisy
While Michael Hooper was probably legitimate in questioning Patchell’s tackle technique, it was somewhat a case of throwing stones in glasshouses. Some 20 minutes earlier, the Wallaby captain had been guilty of pretty terrible tackle technique himself.
Moreover, it was a bit of a cheap shot.
The ball had long gone from Dan Biggar’s hands when openside Hooper came in with a late shoulder hit to the Wales fly-half.
It hurt Biggar and play was rightly brought back for a penalty against Australia.
The punishment could have been greater, with Hooper arguably fortunate to avoid a yellow card.
Where he made contact with Biggar was probably what saved him, as it was more shoulder than neck/ head. But it was certainly poor tackle technique in terms of legality, which is quite ironic given what was to follow.
Was Gareth Davies onside?
Yes. So that’s that sorted!
When Gareth Davies intercepted opposite number Will Genia’s pass and ran some 65 metres to the line just before half-time, it sparked scenes of wild Welsh celebration.
It was also to spark outrage from the Australian rugby community.
Leading the way was former Wallaby hooker Phil Kearns who claimed Davies had been two metres in front of his defensive line and it was an embarrassment the officials hadn’t checked the incident.
Well, yes, there’s an argument that it should have been reviewed just to be sure.
But Kearns’ assertion that the Scarlets scrum-half was way offside just doesn’t stack up.