Fans were fuming on Saturday night when Reece Walsh appeared to get away with a blatant act of foul play in the first Ashes Test between Australia and England. Walsh had a blinder in his Test debut for the Kangaroos, scoring two tries and carving up England in a 26-6 victory.
But there was a controversial moment in the first half when he tangled with fellow NRL star Herbie Farnworth, and the officials appeared to miss a blatant penalty for England. Shortly after scoring his first try, Walsh was tracking back on a kick from England that Josh Addo-Carr collected.
As Walsh was chasing back, Farnworth appeared to grab his jersey and jag him back. Walsh responded by grabbing his opponent’s shirt and hurling him to the ground in anger.
Reece Walsh hurled Herbie Farnworth to the ground when he didn’t have the ball. Image: Channel 9/Getty
The referee might have felt that Farnworth had given as good as he received, but the fact Walsh threw a chaser to the ground when he didn’t have the ball should have seen England get a penalty. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a defender rag-dolled before!” Andrew Voss said in commentary for Fox. “That’s outrageous! How’d you get away with that?”
Mat Thompson said on Channel 9: “A couple of the English chasers were inconvenienced, but no penalty awarded. Walsh clearly dragged Farnworth to the ground there. Lucky to get away with that one.”
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Fans flocked to social media to express their anger. One person wrote: “Can someone tell me how the literal grab of the shirt and throw to the floor from Reece Walsh on Herbie Farnworth was just ignored?”
Another commented: “Australia absolutely deserved winners… but… Nice to score the first try (always important regardless of tries scored in the 2nd half), from a pass that wouldn’t have looked out of place at Wembley last week…And Reece Walsh’s shirt pull going unnoticed on Farnworth…”
Reece Walsh responded after Herbie Farnworth grabbed him first. Image: Channel 9
Reece Walsh sends scary message that he’ll get better
It wouldn’t have affected the end result, but fans were fuming regardless. The bigger issue for England was their diabolical play, with not much in attack and some shocking defence.
As well as scoring two tries, Walsh also saved a couple in the same fashion he did in the NRL grand final for the Broncos. He ran for 175 metres and carved up the English defence on multiple occasions.
But he’s not content, declaring after the match: “There’s some things that I could definitely get better at, for sure. Trying to organise the line, there was a few things in defence there, I sort of let the boys down in the game.
“I thought we were pretty scrappy out there … there’s a lot of room for improvement. But when we’re all chasing perfection, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get it, so we’ve just got to keep trying to get better each session.”
Veteran teammates Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster were in awe, with Munster saying: “I’m very lucky to play with him. He broke my heart a couple of weeks ago (in the grand final). He’s a special talent, and he’s only going to get better, and that’s great to see.”
Cleary added: “It’s outstanding – what a freak of a player, honestly. It’s an absolute pleasure to play alongside him.”