Former Test match official and director of referees at Irish Rugby, Owen Doyle, has slammed the decision to red card Tadhg Beirne in the clash against the All Blacks.<\/p>\n
The Irish<\/a> second-rower was shown a yellow card early on in the clash at Soldier Field in Chicago after a collision with New Zealand fly-half Beauden Barrett.<\/p>\n After a lengthy delay due to technical issues, referee Pierre Brousset issued the yellow card to Beirne<\/a> and sent the incident to be reviewed by the Foul Play Review Officer [FPRO].<\/p>\n Many fans and pundits argue that even a yellow card was a harsh call, a viewpoint that Doyle<\/a> agrees with; like most, he deemed the collision to be accidental, with Barrett caught unawares as Cameron Roigard threw a forward pass to the playmaker who was running a decoy line. Beirne had shot up in defence and hardly had time to adjust as he braced for contact, but did make a high hit on the New Zealander.<\/p>\n \u201cTadhg Beirne\u2019s yellow to a red card was wrong \u2013 plain and simple\u201d<\/p>\n The former referee boss believes that even a yellow card was harsh.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it did [meet the yellow card threshold], it was a lighter shade of pale and the bunker should have left it at that level,\u201d he wrote in his latest Irish Times<\/a> column.<\/p>\n FPRO Dan Jones would upgrade the yellow card to a 20-minute red card, and Doyle believes that it has highlighted an issue with the quality of the international match officials and World Rugby\u2019s bunker system.<\/p>\n The FPRO process was introduced before the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and was added in an attempt to speed up the decision-making process with a second, off-site TMO, given eight minutes to review an incident to deem whether a yellow card is sufficient or if it meets the red card threshold.<\/p>\n \u201cHis [the FPRO] upgrading of Tadhg Beirne\u2019s yellow to a red card was wrong \u2013 plain and simple,\u201d Doyle remarked.<\/p>\n Adding: \u201cWhat 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 \u201cThe 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 All Blacks great slams Tadhg Beirne\u2019s \u2018absolute joke\u2019 red card and issues warning to World Rugby<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The former international referee adds that Jones\u2019 incorrect call puts a question mark over the \u2018whole process\u2019 that World Rugby has introduced.<\/p>\n Particularly because the least senior match official appointed to oversee the game was the one tasked with making the most high-profile decision.<\/p>\n England legend reveals telling \u2018turn a blind eye\u2019 Wayne Barnes comment after \u2018whistle happy\u2019 refs hamper Wallabies and All Blacks Tests<\/a><\/p>\n Junior partner made the high-profile call<\/p>\n However, Doyle admits it\u2019s not entirely their fault as so many officials fall into the category of having little or no zero experience at the highest level.<\/p>\n He suggests the answer might be binning the entire bunker protocol and entrusting the TMO to handle it instead, perhaps with an assistant.<\/p>\n \u201cThis 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,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n