World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin has confirmed that Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt will not be sanctioned after his remarks over the officiating of the second Test between Australia and the British and Irish Lions.<\/p>\n
Schmidt was fuming after Hugo Keenan scored a match-winning try in the closing minutes of the game at the MCG after a controversial clear-out by Jac Morgan on Wallabies<\/a> flanker Carlo Tizzano.<\/p>\n Referee Andrea Piardi and his officiating team reviewed the incident at the ruck and deemed that it was not foul play and allowed the British and Irish Lions<\/a>\u2018 try to stand.<\/p>\n Joe Schmidt slams final call<\/p>\n It was a decision that the experienced head coach took exception to<\/a>, as he felt it did not live up to the player safety laws World Rugby has implemented.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was described as arriving at the same time and we can all see that\u2019s not the case. We can all see clear contact with the back of the neck, which might be a different decision on another day and another time,\u201d he said in a post-match interview.<\/p>\n Before doubling down in the press conference: \u201cThey [match officials] are human. Players make errors. Match officials make errors.<\/p>\n \u201cOur perspective is that we felt it was a decision that doesn\u2019t really live up to the big player safety push that they are talking about. You cannot hit someone above the levels of the shoulders and there\u2019s no bind with the left arm, his hand is on the ground. That\u2019s what we have seen. We have watched a number of replays from different angles, so it is what it is. We just have to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n Rugby Australia calls for \u2018level of accountability\u2019 after backing Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt in row over last-gasp Lions try<\/a><\/p>\n David Campese\u2019s forthright verdict on \u2018the elephant in the room\u2019 and what Joe Schmidt should look at to \u2018avoid humiliation\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Tuesday in Sydney, Gilpin<\/a> didn\u2019t think Schmidt<\/a> had called into question the integrity of match officials.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is disappointing when the reaction is one of, \u2018this means player welfare isn\u2019t taken seriously\u2019, because we have worked really hard on that narrative,\u201d Gilpin said.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone knows we are putting player welfare, in its broadest sense, at the top of the agenda. You can see that from what we are doing with the instrumented mouthguards, all the research, the science, and the investigations.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll all recall, three years ago in the last Lions series in South Africa, when the match official in the first test was very heavily criticised, the mental health challenges. [Ex-referee] Wayne Barnes has talked about it \u2013 we\u2019ve got match officials who, when they\u2019re criticised publicly, having their families targeted outside the school gates, that\u2019s not good, that\u2019s not fair, and that\u2019s not right, so we\u2019ve got to support these guys.<\/p>\n \u201cWe won\u2019t talk publicly about that decision. The decision has happened, the game\u2019s finished, we\u2019ll move on, we\u2019ll share, and we do share, with Joe and the coaching team why the match officials made that decision. Joe\u2019s got a view about what was wrong with that decision making, and there\u2019ll be a debate between them about that, so that Joe and his players can go into the next Test, understanding how that game\u2019s going to be officiated.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThe Wallabies had a chance to win an amazing Test match. We understand the emotion involved in that. I think Joe\u2019s comments have continued to respect the fact that the match officials have got a tough job to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Wallabies legend gives surprising verdict on ruckgate and reveals where the Lions really won it<\/a><\/p>\n