![\"Ireland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285958174.jpg\")
Luke Jacobson of New Zealand. Pic: Michael Bradley \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\nA former Irish referee has labelled the decision not to send off All Black flanker Luke Jacobson as shocking after Ireland\u2019s defeat last Saturday.<\/p>\n
Andy Farrell\u2019s side were truly outplayed in all major departments at Eden Park, with New Zealand looking back to their very best at times, and Ireland making hair-pulling mistakes didn\u2019t help either.<\/p>\n
However, many believed the All Blacks were fortunate not to get a red card when Luke Jacobson was sent to the bin for shoulder-on-head contact with Ireland\u2019s Josh van der Flier.<\/p>\n
Luke Jacobson of New Zealand. Pic: Michael Bradley \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Chiefs\u2019 flanker came charging into the ruck off his feet, but with James Ryan in the process of getting up from it, the TMO deemed that it was enough mitigation to not send Jacobson off for 20 minutes after a bunker review.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s reason to believe that had Jacobson been sent off, Ireland may have mounted a comeback, as Jack Conan scored a try while Ireland had a man advantage, and who\u2019s to say that had Ireland believed Jacobson was off for 20 minutes instead of 10, they wouldn\u2019t have tried to play out of their 22, leading to Will Jordan\u2019s try.<\/p>\n
It may be hypothetical, but the decision not to send Jacobson off played a huge role in the outcome of the match, and a decision former Irish referee Owen Doyle labelled as \u2018a shocker\u2019.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286597490.jpg\")
Ardie Savea of New Zealand reacts as Referee Nic Berry shows a yellow card to Luke Jacobson of New Zealand (not pictured). Pic: Kai Schwoerer \u2013 Nations Championship\/Nations Championship via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u2018Why the hell isn\u2019t that a red card?\u2019 That sums up the bevy of text messages that pinged into my phone immediately after Luke Jacobson had launched himself, off his feet in a totally reckless fashion, at Josh van der Flier\u2019, Doyle wrote in his column for the Irish Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018They were all from experienced, knowledgeable rugby people. I had no answer: I was busy asking myself exactly the same question. There was a high degree of danger when Jacobson struck van der Flier hard in the head with his elbow. It was in the egregious category.\u2019<\/p>\n Doyle then explained how he believed Jacobson was lucky to escape without a straight red card, but he was hopeful that the right decision would be made once it went to the bunker review.<\/p>\n \u2018It went to the bunker official, Englishman Andrew Jackson, for adjudication\u2019, Doyle explained. \u2018Surely, it would now, at least, become a 20-minute red card. But even that did not come to pass.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Jackson found an escape route for the guilty party, decreeing that James Ryan had \u201cjammed\u201d the All Blacks player\u2019s arm. Heavens above, where did that come from? It was a shocker of a call.\u2019<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286604011.jpg\")
Luke Jacobson of New Zealand and his teammates. Pic: Joe Allison \u2013 Nations Championship\/Nations Championship via Getty Images<\/p>\n