Samoa lose to Scotland because of crucial referee error
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I wanted to title this article ‘A great Injustice against Samoan Rugby’. But then, people might have started accusing me of being Eliota-Fuimaono Sapolu, so I decided against it.
However, anyone who watched the Scotland v Samoa match over the weekend could have seen that the Samoans were robbed.
The final scoreline was 17-16, but there was a certain call that I, and the rest of Samoa, was unhappy with.
Around the 60th minute mark, a Scottish player was tackled into touch near the halfway line. However before he went out, he threw a loose pass back into play to basically no one, which was then pounced upon by Samoan winger Paul Perez. He burned past two defenders and had a clear run to the tryline!
But, as he was going to touch down the ball, with two samoan fans running over and giving him hugs, he turned to see that the flag of the assistant ref was up, back near the half way mark.
The ruling was that the Scottish player was out before he passed the ball back in.
That’s okay I guess, perhaps he was right, we could have missed that foot in touch by the Scottish player.
So as the game continued, Samoa ended up losing the match 17-16. Yes I was disappointed, but I thought we lost fair and square, and Scotland just had that extra edge near the end, so congrats to Scotland.
However last night during an interview with Samoan Coach Stephan Betham on TV1 Samoa, they brought up the disallowed try and showed a replay.
Wow, was all I had to say, when I watched the replay in slow motion. The AR really messed up with his call. The replay clearly showed the Scottish played throwing the ball back in before he was even close to the touch line, which means he was never out. Paul Perez had by all rights scored a try which was mistakenly disallowed. If it had been allowed, Samoa would have been up by 21–10.
This incident completely changed the outcome of the match, the turning point to speak.
For those who haven’t seen the vid, here it is. The quality is not that good, but clearly the player is not out before throwing the ball back in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnMWhtVyBtcandamp;feature=youtu.be
Stephen Betham stated on TV1 they talked to the referee in question and showed him the replay. The referee apologised for his mistake.
The Samoan rugby union have submitted a complaint to the IRB regarding this incident. So it’s up to the IRB what to do with it now.
In my own opinion, I hope they suspend the referee in question so as to set an example to other officials that they need to start making the correct calls.
There is no way the result will be overturned, but at least it will help prevent other gross mistakes being made in future matches.
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- Rugby Union, Samoa rugby, scotland rugby
June 27th 2012 @ 4:53am
kingplaymaker said | June 27th 2012 @ 4:53am | Report comment
There is clearly a bias amongst referees against Samoa. It could well be that the IRB organise it to keep the island teams weak, but it is quite clear. Wales organised the pool stages of the RWC to make sure Samoa were eliminated. After the Welsh draw with Fiji, there was a sudden IRB decision not to allow the island teams players who had previously represented other teams, to stop them having enough talent. Australia are allowed to force players to declare they will play for the Wallabies in order to take part in Super rugby. A Welsh referee was assigned to the critical Samoa/South Africa match and gave every decision to South Africa in order to make sure Samoa was eliminated and Wales got through.
It’s crystal clear frankly and repulsive.
June 27th 2012 @ 5:41am
peeeko said | June 27th 2012 @ 5:41am | Report comment
you are questioning the integrity of referees? “wales organised the pool stages of the RWC” – i think you must write conspiracy theories in your spare time? to suggest that the welsh referee was assigned to make sure samoa was eliminated is laughable
June 27th 2012 @ 6:51am
Bob Wandstraat said | June 27th 2012 @ 6:51am | Report comment
Nigel Owen was appointed to ref the Manu Samoa, South Africa match by the chairman of the IRB referees selection panel , David Pickering of the Welsh Rugby Union.
Throughout the match, Owen, who is gay, can be heard telling the Samoan players that they are not showing him enough respect.
Mahroni Schwalger reached out to place the ball over the line , a la Toutai Kefu (Mr. Mechano Man) against the ABs, but was ruled to have made a double movement, even though his knees never moved.
Owen also blew halftime after being hit with the ball instead of awarding a scrum, with Samoa on attack.
David Lemi was ruled to have been tackled, when he clearly was not.
The match was clearly a stitch-up.
And FYI PEEEko, Oswald did not kill JFK.
June 27th 2012 @ 7:04am
mania said | June 27th 2012 @ 7:04am | Report comment
jppietersen was on the bottom of the ruck on the boks line and clearly reached out and knocked the ball down. no penalty no professional foul.
still samoa need to get over these past transgressions and look to the future
June 27th 2012 @ 8:05am
Ben S said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:05am | Report comment
Owens is gay… and?
June 27th 2012 @ 8:31am
FrankJ said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:31am | Report comment
Homophobic much?
June 27th 2012 @ 8:56am
Jarmen said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:56am | Report comment
What does Owens being gay have to do with anything is beyond me.
Why you feel you even need to point this out?
June 27th 2012 @ 8:01pm
SkinnyKid said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:01pm | Report comment
join the dots lads…there are suggestions that Owen was on the end of some nasty comments from the Samoans.
June 27th 2012 @ 8:59am
sixo_clock said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:59am | Report comment
A less than worthy complement to KPM, at least he understands the laws. Still will enjoy the laughable conspiracy nonsense. Apparently gayness is a low-respect stitch-up too and also gay-haters are gays fighting their feelings.
Of course Oswald, an urban rabbit hunter, and a gay name if ever there was one, didn’t, the bullets he fired hit a gay communist man-hole (giggle, snicker) which ricocheted into JFK’s brain. The mafia who owned the rights to the phrase ‘gay communist man-hole’ sold it to the Welsh Catholics when the mob realised it was counter-intuitive to the concept of gangs of men who liked impressing other men. The Protestant controlled Welsh customs impounded it because the documentation was incorrect and as they had too many cheerful referees had to banish the excess to penal (giggle,snicker) colonies in the Pacific. From where those whistlers and flag-wavers have been trying to undermine the holy game of Rugby ever since. So possibly you are right. I really should have thought this through.
June 27th 2012 @ 10:16am
kingplaymaker said | June 27th 2012 @ 10:16am | Report comment
sixo_clock I said he was Welsh not gay try to read the post properly.
June 27th 2012 @ 10:29am
sixo_clock said | June 27th 2012 @ 10:29am | Report comment
KPM I was responding to Bob not yourself, so I did read it correctly.
As for the issue of bias, it could only be based on their players’ conduct on the field on the day. I cannot believe for an instant that a ref can call most previous matches well and then move locations and display bias expecting to remain in the position or appointment for very long. It just doesn’t fit into the wider picture. They must be dissing him repeatedly which in the overall scheme of things is just not Rugby and the refs are entitled to address that issue. On the other hand if a ref shows up having reffed the team before and cops more verbals then he is also entitled to draw the obvious conclusion that the problem is endemic culturally. That is not bias, just the application of normal logic we all possess.
June 27th 2012 @ 9:04am
wMc said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Owens is a pedantic show pony who thinks he’s the most important person on the field – always has & why OBrien & co rate him beats me. Hence the improvement in flow of the AB v Ireland tests when the French guy reffed the 3rd. Agree no sure why who he bats for is anything to do with it.
June 27th 2012 @ 9:18am
ohtani's jacket said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:18am | Report comment
Poite swallowed his whistle in the beginning of the match despite the knock-ons. Owens did a good job of reffing a difficult second test.
June 27th 2012 @ 4:26pm
Sledgeandhammer said | June 27th 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
The bias against smaller nations also occurs in football (soccer) world cups. I’m not sure if is intentional or just human bias. I thought Dickinson’s refereeing of Tonga vs England a few years back was the worst example.
June 27th 2012 @ 4:04pm
kovana said | June 27th 2012 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
I wouldnt go so far as call it a conspiracy, but more like an ingrained belief that the lower ranked teams are more prone to penalties.
Also, Nigel said something to Mahonri Schwalger in that match between Samoa vs Saffas at the RWC…
“You dont want to play against 16 men!”
I mean really… what was he trying to imply?
June 27th 2012 @ 4:56am
Johnno said | June 27th 2012 @ 4:56am | Report comment
- The sad truth is this i may as well be honest.
-Talant wise Melansian, and Polynesian people are most of the time or often highly talented at contact sports.
-They have very good explosive strength. Makes them good at sports like, rugby union, rugby league, sumo wrestling, weightlifting, boxing eg David Tua, or a sport like water polo if they took it seriously too.
-But reality is tv ratings wise due to there small populations $$$$, they don’t bring in the tv dollars as much.
-Luckily we see a lot of pacific islanders at club level, and throughout other national teams.
-But my point is if the ref had a bad game and they lose, or they are knocked out of torunmants like the world cup it doesn’t hurt the IRB’s profit.
-in fact having Fiji,Samoa,Tonga make quarter finals or world cups and beyond is financially bad for sponsors of world cups.
-Samoa only have 183,00 people, Tonga smaller 104,00 people Fiji has 860,000 people. And half of Fiji
s population is Fijian Indian and they have not warmed to rugby yet.
So tiny populations and the IRB loses money in tv ratings $$$ if the pacific island national teams do well, just the reality of the situation.
-So one akss is the investment by the IRB and sponsors into the pacific islands worth and going on tours, when they brogan nothing in terms of bog gate receipts and tv ratings.
June 27th 2012 @ 5:57am
King of the Gorgonites said | June 27th 2012 @ 5:57am | Report comment
Love your work kovana. It’s sad that the island nations always seem to have the calls go against them. Would have been good to see the scots beaten.
June 27th 2012 @ 6:05am
mania said | June 27th 2012 @ 6:05am | Report comment
samoa need to get over the conspiracy theory. not because its not true but because it keeps us looking back at the past instead of striving for a better future. sure PI teams get screwed over every WC but its wrong and a waste of energy to dwell on them when we know that the initial decision will never get over turned.
samoa is a so much better team than they were 10 years ago. another 5-10 years we’ll have a team that will be undeniable and have to be included in the 4nations and super. and when that time comes it will all be due the hard work of the samoan people despite the IRB.
johnno – kind of agree about your observations. but i’m not paranoid enough to say that the refs were given instructions by the IRB to favour the scots. it was just a ref mistake and it happens. its part of sports. refs have ruining games since sport was invented.
one fo my favourtiefunny sports quotes is from jayLeno:
“I wanted to have a career in sports when I was young, but I had to give it up. I’m only six feet tall, so I couldn’t play basketball. I’m only 190 pounds, so I couldn’t play football. And I have 20-20 vision, so I couldn’t be a referee.”
June 27th 2012 @ 6:41am
Terry Tavita said | June 27th 2012 @ 6:41am | Report comment
I watched the game on the sidelines at Apia Park last Saturday. The Scottish player was a meter from the touchline and the line assistant got it wrong. But that’s rugby, sometimes you get the rub of the grass sometimes you don’t. The crowd was dissappointed but took the result in its stride. There’ll be plenty more Scotland-Samoa clashes in years to come..
June 27th 2012 @ 7:31am
Jerry said | June 27th 2012 @ 7:31am | Report comment
Why should the ref be suspended for an assistant ref’s mistake?
June 27th 2012 @ 9:00am
El Gamba said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:00am | Report comment
I knew we’d agree on something at some point Jerry.
June 27th 2012 @ 7:35am
Emric said | June 27th 2012 @ 7:35am | Report comment
The fact that a major European power would tour Samoa itself and play a major international in Samoa against Samoa is a brilliant development, now its time for the All Blacks to play there and sell out Apia Park
June 27th 2012 @ 7:42am
mania said | June 27th 2012 @ 7:42am | Report comment
true emric. scotland should be applauded for doing a tour thru fiji and samoa. lets see aus and nz send over some teams
June 27th 2012 @ 7:51am
Emric said | June 27th 2012 @ 7:51am | Report comment
Mania.
What has annoyed me is that the NZRU has always said Samoa does not have a big enough stadium to play a full international there and there’s no money in it. They just held a full international at RLP in Christchurch which only holds 18,000 + temp seating, and Apia Park holds 15,000 and temp seating can be arranged.
The argument makes no sense
June 27th 2012 @ 8:10am
FrankJ said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:10am | Report comment
Maybe Emric, but the Samoan union have also recently preferred to play at Auckland due to the Samoan population there and potential increased revenue.
June 27th 2012 @ 2:22pm
Dasher said | June 27th 2012 @ 2:22pm | Report comment
I think a Samoa-NZ game in Samoa would do a lot more for the game globally than a Samoa-NZ game in NZ. Simple compromise would be to have two games – home and away. Australia should do their bit by the PI nations and tour the islands too.
By extension, maybe the 6 Nations teams should play the second tier nations in Europe or America like Romania, Georgia, Canada etc, at the same time Australia and NZ tour the islands.
June 27th 2012 @ 4:01pm
kovana said | June 27th 2012 @ 4:01pm | Report comment
No real evidence for that statemtent Frank.
June 27th 2012 @ 9:06am
wMc said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:06am | Report comment
ya get a lot of no sense (nonsense) from the NZRU – always have always will
June 27th 2012 @ 9:32am
Jarmen said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:32am | Report comment
So what sense are the ARU talking I don’t see them touring the Islands wMc?
Or is it just the responsibility of the NZRU to see the betterment of Pacific Rugby?
June 27th 2012 @ 9:16am
ohtani's jacket said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:16am | Report comment
How much does a ticket in Samoa cost compared to a ticket in New Zealand? We can get 15,000 in Japan but tickets cost less than the price of a movie.
June 27th 2012 @ 9:59pm
Sylvester said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:59pm | Report comment
“They just held a full international at RLP in Christchurch which only holds 18,000 + temp seating”
They did Emric, but some of those fans paid up to $90 a ticket. What’s the going rate for admission at a game in Apia?
June 27th 2012 @ 9:00am
Jarmen said | June 27th 2012 @ 9:00am | Report comment
I agree with you both, the ABs and Wallabies should both be playing tests against Fiji, Samoa and Tonga in their homelands.
June 27th 2012 @ 7:47am
Sailosi said | June 27th 2012 @ 7:47am | Report comment
A shocking error but we didn’t play well.
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June 27th 2012 @ 7:56am
FrankJ said | June 27th 2012 @ 7:56am | Report comment
And a Scotland player clearly pulls out of tackling Perez when the whistle blows for the ball supposedly going into touch. This sort of thing happens many times every game, whether it’s at scrum time, ruck or elsewhere. And so what – it’s the 60 minute mark. Even if Perez had scored who knows what would have happened after that. This is a complete beat up.
And KPM, are you sure you don’t work for the tele or the feral hun?
June 27th 2012 @ 8:07am
formeropenside said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:07am | Report comment
I did think Samoa were pretty hard done by at the RWC. But this sounds like a touchie error, and if on live first viewing it wasn’t obvious (as appears to be the case) its one of those things.
Also, well done to Scotland for touring the PI at all: hopefully we see more NH sides heading off to the islands.