The drama started even before the FPRO was called up. Referee Pierre Brousset and TMO Ian Tempest, not helped by the atrocious communication and replay system, eventually decided Beirne\u2019s action reached the yellow card threshold. If it did, it was a lighter shade of pale and the bunker should have left it at that level. <\/p>\n
What I saw was an accident. Beauden Barrett has been admirably quick to say he wasn\u2019t expecting the ball \u2013 and, no doubt, Beirne wasn\u2019t expecting him to have it. Imagine, for a moment, Beirne was the ball carrier. Does that mean a red for Barrett? Like heck it does. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1739272379918-c03b2529-1643-4e02-ab77-51ef2d1ea4b6.jpeg\"\/)
Are Ireland sliding down rugby’s global pecking order?<\/p>\n
The collision was at the lower end of force and, given all the circumstances, the red card should be struck out, expunged from the Irish player\u2019s record. <\/p>\n
There is a growing tendency for referees to behave like Pontius Pilate, washing their hands of foul play, leaving the tricky calls to be made elsewhere. Often, it\u2019s as if they haven\u2019t seen stuff that is clearly dangerous; they wait for the TMO to tell them before whistling. If the TMO fails to come in, then it\u2019s play on.<\/p>\n
![\"Ireland's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CRBCGMWNDQIX7TQ4J4CDVRDZ2A.jpg\")
Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne and Beauden Barrett of New Zealand at the end of Saturday\u2019s Test match at Soldier Field, Chicago. Photograph: Dan Sheridan\/Inpho <\/p>\n
This critical decision was made by the junior partner in the team of five officials. That in itself is bizarre and puts a solid question mark over the whole process. Jones was clearly incorrect in terming Beirne\u2019s action as having a \u201chigh degree of danger\u201d. Once he arrived at that conclusion, the outlook was inevitably grim.<\/p>\n
There is, though, a wider problem. I am referring to an insufficient depth of quality in the match officials chart. Because of this, it\u2019s hard to avoid appointing some officials who have little or no zero experience of international rugby. A number of officials fall into this category and while they are doing their best, it\u2019s high risk. <\/p>\n
Perhaps the answer is to bin the bunker and hand these decisions to the TMO. He would simply need an assistant to follow play, while the TMO studies the dangerous offence. <\/p>\n
While Beirne was sorely missed, it\u2019s highly unlikely that Ireland<\/a> \u2013 who were disappointing and below-par \u2013 would have won the match if he had remained on the pitch. After all, one swallow never makes a summer. <\/p>\n I have been against the 20-minute red card, for often explained reasons.<\/a> But if we\u2019re going to see more of this nonsense, then the road taken by Saul of Tarsus might beckon.<\/p>\n A huge amount of preparatory work is done by elite match officials in the area of in-game sanctions. They visualise and study foul-play incidents, all under the excellent guidance of World Rugby\u2019s Jo\u00ebl Jutge. It\u2019s impossible to believe Beirne\u2019s action fits their criteria for a red card. Also, Brousset is still settling into this exalted level. He has quite some distance to go before he establishes himself. <\/p>\n There were other things in the performances of the match officials which should have been picked up. Here\u2019s a couple. Players left the lineout early, by actually jumping out of it, then rejoined at pace to build maul momentum \u2013 it wasn\u2019t noticed by any official. When Josh van der Flier was flattened as he retreated to his onside line, the referee and his supporting officials all remained silent. Ireland could have done with a penalty at that point.<\/p>\n The Lions test matches were controlled by a New Zealander, a Georgian and an Italian \u2013 nobody from France for the first time in an age. Although it was in days of yore, Frenchman Francis Palmade still ranks as one of the best ever. Splendidly attired in all royal blue, he controlled four Lions tests, two in New Zealand and two in South Africa. He was before his time in giving clear signals to explain his calls. Realising that his lack of English was a potential hindrance for players, he was inspired by a theatrical performance of a famous countryman \u2013 mime artist Marcel Marceau.<\/p>\n Brousset will return to centrestage later in the month when he takes charge of England v Argentina. It will be no place for the faint of heart. Twickenham rarely is.<\/p>\n On Saturday afternoon, I tuned in to the online coverage of Munster<\/a> v Argentina. The last time these two teams met, in 1973, it was a filthy, disgraceful encounter. The then Irish Times sports editor, the urbane Paul McWeeney, was moved to write that Argentina \u201cprovided a really ugly display of vicious use of the boot, shoulder and fist\u201d. <\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/HYB5SDPTJYUG26NKUSZ4W7VXQY.jpg\")
New Zealand\u2019s Josh Lord contests a call made by referee Pierre Brousset during the Soldier Field Test between Ireland and New Zealand. Photograph: Gary Carr\/Inpho <\/p>\n![\"Munster's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/K7QAAFDMCZARFAJYA2JBVTGFEY.jpg\")
Munster’s Tony Butler scores a try against Argentina at Thomond Park last Saturday. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/Inpho <\/p>\n