{"id":634648,"date":"2026-04-27T19:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T19:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634648\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T19:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T19:05:14","slug":"what-parent-would-let-their-child-play-rugby-after-seeing-the-carnage-at-thomond-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634648\/","title":{"rendered":"What parent would let their child play rugby after seeing the carnage at Thomond? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tales of the unexpected played out across the weekend\u2019s URC<\/a> matches, as lower-placed teams rattled the cages of those in contention for the playoffs. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the goings-on at Thomond Park. This match will have done precisely nothing for parents struggling with the idea of their young kids playing the game. It was carnage, a war of attrition. More like Russell Crowe\u2019s Gladiator than sport. Nasty injury followed nasty injury, players were clearly badly hurt, with some uncertain to play again this season.<\/p>\n

Richie Murphy\u2019s young Ulster team again showed the merit of how they go about their business, putting in a serious challenge to the hot favourites. Referee Sam Grove-White was in charge and he entered the arena smiling and looking relaxed. That would be shortlived. Within minutes, Tadhg Beirne had a very serious point to make to the referee. It\u2019s impossible not to agree with the Munster<\/a> captain on this one.<\/p>\n

Beirne, no doubt, was referring to several early side-entries into the breakdown which weren\u2019t picked up by the referee. He had a valid point because these can be very dangerous. Some of the looks he threw in the direction of Grove-White as the game went on spoke volumes.<\/p>\n

The post-tackle breakdown was like something from days of long ago. Players from both teams were coming in the side or diving in off their feet, sealing off the ball at will. The referee was apparently happy to adopt a laissez-faire policy. He was fortunate that by the time he called proceedings to a halt, Munster had pulled away on the scoreboard<\/a>. But the idea that a convincing win can hide a below-par refereeing performance is misplaced.<\/p>\n

\"SaoirseSaoirse Prenderville with referee Sam Grove-White before Saturday’s URC match between Munster and Ulster at Thomond Park. Photograph: Nick Elliott\/Inpho <\/p>\n

The scoreboard had moved along nicely for Munster, who notched up a couple of tries while Ulster\u2019s Tom Brigg was in the bin for deliberately knocking the ball forward. Murphy would be right to look askance at that call \u2013 it was unnecessarily severe. The referee failed to take the same action for something similar by Calvin Nash. <\/p>\n

The URC do have a problem with referee appointments, caused by their insistence on neutrality. Bit by bit, it has led to mediocrity and, well, just more mediocrity \u2013 at best. Both Grove-White and his compatriot Mike Adamson have proved to be in the high-risk category in recent times. Despite this, they keep getting assigned to matches of great significance. Based on their overall performances in the last season or two, it is difficult to see how they are considered up to the task. <\/p>\n

As recently as the previous week, questions were asked of Adamson and his TMO, Andrew McMenemy. They didn\u2019t notice any foul play when Ospreys\u2019 Luke Morgan threw himself dangerously on top of Sharks\u2019 try scorer Ethan Hooker. While most players do their best to avoid such dangerous collisions, we are still seeing too much of it. It needs to be high on any referee\u2019s check list when tries have been scored.<\/p>\n

The URC send neutral referees and TMOs to each match. The officiating team is then completed by the appointment of \u201chome\u201d assistants who are put in the invidious position of making calls for or against \u201ctheir\u201d team. No wonder they don\u2019t seem to want to get involved. This may well be a money-saving exercise but, as we are now at the sharp end of the competition, if they want a neutral team of officials, then that\u2019s what it should be. The coffers must be opened so that the entire team of officials is neutral.<\/p>\n

There was a sting in the tale of the weekend at the Stadio Comunale Monigo, where Leinster<\/a> played Benetton. What seemed a needless infringement in the dying embers cost Leinster the match. While there are always issues to discuss, there is little point in trying to blame South African referee Morn\u00e9 Ferreira. I\u2019d be surprised if Leo Cullen took issue with him. <\/p>\n

\"BenettonBenetton players celebrate with Jacob Umaga after he kicked a penalty to win Saturday’s URC match against Leinster at Stadio Comunale Monigo in Treviso, Italy. Photograph: Roberto Bregani\/Inpho <\/p>\n

However, like so many, Ferreira looked to be very dependent on his TMO. I\u2019d hazard a guess that the anticipated new protocols will reduce the reasons a TMO can instigate a conversation with the man in the middle.<\/p>\n

If that comes to pass, which it should, it will be a huge wake-up call for quite a few match officials. I wonder if they all will manage to adapt.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s go back in time for a moment, to Twickenham in 1982. When Ollie Campbell was the victim of a late, high, cheap shot by England\u2019s Peter Winterbottom as \u2018Ginger\u2019 McLoughlin stormed to his never-to-be-forgotten try. The outhalf retaliated in the only way he knew. He got up, dusted himself down and kicked the touchline conversion, which was vital to Ireland\u2019s 16-15 winning score.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer referee Allan Hosie died last week. photograph: Clive Mason\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Campbell had \u201ccleverly\u201d started the move leading to the try by having an attempted dropgoal charged down. Ireland quickly regained possession and a magical swift-passing interchange then followed. It involved five or six players, with Campbell and Willie Duggan both handling twice. Unsurprisingly, the great Fergus Slattery was also involved. It sent McLoughlin rampaging towards the goalline, with team-mates binding on to him, joining the charge. Even winger Trevor Ringland was seen in the middle of the driving maul.<\/p>\n

It was a slice of good Irish luck that the referee was the outstanding Scot, Allan Hosie. He had a truly uncanny sense of anticipation. This was key to being perfectly positioned to award the try \u2013 touched down somewhere amid a pile-up of Irish bodies. <\/p>\n

Allan Hosie passed away last week. He was not just a very fine rugby referee, but a true gentlemen in every way. He will be remembered with great respect and affection throughout the world of rugby. Requiescat in Pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tales of the unexpected played out across the weekend\u2019s URC matches, as lower-placed teams rattled the cages of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85,153168],"class_list":{"0":"post-634648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-the-whistleblower"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}