A retired Test-level referee has branded a ‘massive’ decision taken by Ben O’Keeffe in last Saturday’s British and Irish Lions first Test with the Wallabies as “baffling” and “mystifying”.
Andy Farrell’s tourists were comfortable winners against Australia, despite just eight points separating the teams at the finish in Brisbane. A late rally saw the Wallabies reduce the margin of defeat to 27-19 following a couple of tries viewed as consolations.
However, former IRFU referee Owen Doyle believes the match might not have been so one-sided if O’Keeffe and his support officials reached a different outcome on the hour mark when reviewing a tackle involving Ben Earl.
The scoreboard read 24-10 when the clock was stopped in the 60th minute to review the play that ended with Joseph Suaalii touching the ball down over the Lions’ try line.
“A massive turnaround…”
A score then could have ignited the Wallabies with a quarter of the match still to play, but the decision reached was that Suaalii should have released the ball before getting over the line and ‘no try’ was the ruling.
Doyle’s take on the situation was that Earl, the Lions’ sub back-rower, should have been penalised for his chop tackle on Suaalii some moments earlier.
Writing in his Irish Times column, Doyle said: “At a crucial moment, Joseph Suaalii had a try disallowed. The officials took an age to rule it out.
“I thought they would then penalise the Lions’ Ben Earl for a low, no-arms dangerous chop tackle on Suaalii, just moments before. It was another occasion when a Lions player flirted with a yellow card.
“It was similar to the modus of Luke Cowan-Dickie, a renowned specialist in this area, who, not for the first time, knocked himself into oblivion in the Lions’ match against the AUNZ Invitational XV.
“The officials somehow concluded that Earl had used his arms – both of them. It was a baffling, mystifying call when compared to what the replays showed.
“However, the officials did notice that Suaalii had not released the ball, just prior to getting over the line. With Earl on a generous get-out-of-jail card, it meant a relieving penalty kick for the Lions. It was a massive turnaround.”
The Lions got the rub of the green
Doyle accused the Lions of “leaking penalties” in the closing 30 minutes of the match. “Under immense pressure for the last 30 minutes, the Lions were leaking penalties when O’Keeffe clearly warned Maro Itoje that one more would mean yellow.
“In the event, no repeated infringement card was delivered. There were too many potential yellow-card scenarios, including Tadhg Furlong’s shoulder, but the Lions got the rub of the green on each occasion. That might not happen next time.”
The former referee also gave his assessment of the first-half incident involving Tom Curry colliding with the aerial Tom Lynagh, explaining why the Lions back row was “never going to be carded” for his foul play.
“Tom Curry did not get a yellow card when he stuffed young Wallaby out-half Tom Lynagh, who was airborne at the time. Curry, who otherwise brought so much to the party, couldn’t have complained if Ben O’Keeffe had reached into his pocket.
“But perhaps he knew that the other actors in this particular scene – Lynagh and the referee – would not have anticipated a card. Here’s why. Lynagh was nearly cut in two by the Chiefs’ Samipeni Finau in last year’s Super Rugby Pacific competition, with the same referee in charge.
“It was outrageously dangerous, far worse than Curry’s offence. While Lynagh’s head whiplashed violently like a shaken rag doll, O’Keeffe called ‘penalty only’. By that measure, the England back row was never going to be carded. It’s worth googling and seeing for yourself.”