“If the greatest writer of the written word had written that story, nobody would have believed it.”
Magical words conjured up by commentator Cliff Morgan to describe, perhaps, the try of the century when Gareth Edwards’ dived over the line for that famous Barbarians score against the All Blacks in 1973.
That turn of phrase echoed when Frenchman Pierre Brousset called time at Twickenham on Saturday. Nobody, but nobody, believed that Ireland would deliver such a complete clobbering to a very old enemy. Five tries at “HQ”, heck, you cannot be serious.
One important change on the day saw the Irish players leaving it to captain Caelan Doris to raise matters with the referee. Instead, they concentrated on going about their business, and were much the better for it. England were different, constantly yapping at Brousset and they correctly, if only eventually, saw a penalty advanced 10m.
Surely, it’s time for World Rugby’s chair, Australian Brett Robinson, to recognise that it’s time to call a halt to the law tinkerers. Their ideas are based only on what they imagine the game will become, and which we don’t want in any case. It was a wondrous match – and that’s the story of the Six Nations to date.
Full of contests, both individual and collective, and full of running rugby; these are all ingredients which make rugby union a great game. If Robinson isn’t minded to get involved, there must be enough unions who will speak out – staying silent is not an option.
Ireland conceded five penalties at the scrum, and still that made no difference. The English front row is a three-headed beast. But, with the pace Ireland put on the ball, they didn’t seem to be much use elsewhere. Steve Borthwick now finds himself firmly on the horns of a very different beast, a horrible dilemma. The chariot has lost more than its wheels, and selection-wise the coach has to decide whether to stick or twist.
Assistant referee Pierre Brousset checks in with referee Andrea Piardi after he picked up a injury on Saturday. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho
Brousset, of course, was not meant to be the referee. He will have been well prepared, of course, but never really thinking that the unfortunate Andrea Piardi would not be able to continue after just 30 minutes. It’s a completely different mindset for an assistant, so credit where it is due for a seamless changeover, and Brousset performed well.
As had Piardi for his short tenure, apart from what looked an incorrect call against Tommy O’Brien for competing in the air, as Jamison Gibson-Park sprinted towards the line. Far wiser to let the score happen, then review.
If England can find a reason to transfer any blame to the match officials, they are unlikely to find any takers. From the messages which have pinged on my phone their supporters have been generous in their congratulations. Whereas what they have said about the England team and coach is not printable.
In Lille, France continued on their seemingly inexorable road to a Grand Slam. Ireland’s Andrew Brace was in charge, and it was good to see him back from a troubling injury. The degree of difficulty wasn’t high, but he should consider sticking to the official language of rugby, English.
Irish referee Andrew Brace (left) oversees a scrum during the Six Nations fixture between France and Italy at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, northern France, on Sunday. Photograph: Sameer al-Doumy/AFP via Getty
A couple of words here or there, in French or Italian, is really of no use if you can’t string a few sentences together. French and Italian officials use English, the difference being that they are admirably fluent.
The scrums were awful, no blame to the ref here. However, a change in tone from Brace might have been a good idea – there’s nothing wrong with showing controlled annoyance. “No messing now” is hardly going to do the trick. Messages need to be a lot stronger.
Italy’s Louis Lynagh was rightly binned for a deliberate knock-on as the ball was on its way to France winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey. Having reviewed the replays Brace decided that there was enough Italian cover to rule out a penalty try, as it was not definitively a try.
That, simply, is not correct, the law does not require “definitively”. It’s all about “probability,” a very different measure, which does not mean certainty.
The so-called cover most probably wouldn’t have laid a hand on Bielle-Biarrey who might well be the fastest man in world rugby. The conclusion to this episode should have been a penalty try. Earlier, Bielle-Biarrey had made Italian speedster Ange Capuozzo look slow – no mean feat – when scoring France’s opening try.
Ireland’s Daniel Ryan runs in to score a try against England during the under-20s Six Nations match in Bath last Friday. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
On Friday evening, the Ireland Under-20s provided a great start to the weekend with a win over their English counterparts in Bath. Tom Wood was again to the fore; he’s a chip, maybe a faster one, off the old block, who actually was no slouch himself. There was something heart-warming about the natural, family celebration post match, with parents Keith and Nicola.
However, there was absolutely nothing heart-warming about a late, dangerous, knees-first slide into try scorer Dan Ryan. There were four match officials in attendance and none, repeat none, saw anything wrong.
The lack of a call here was not good enough, and actually unacceptable. It deserved yellow, and play should have restarted with a penalty to Ireland.
Assuming match officials have a priority list, this type of dangerous play must be added to it. There is no reason to wait for a serious injury before taking punitive action.
Much better is needed.