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Amongst the fiery outpouring of vitriol, through the burning gaze of unbridled wrath and contempt, with blood boiling in your very veins, there is one thing you may not have considered.
The Wallabies were also robbed.
What? How could I possibly be serious you say? No my dear Scots, I jest not. Let this stand as a statement of fact – the Wallabies were also robbed.
They were robbed of legitimacy.
It was not the Wallabies’ fault that Craig Joubert gave that penalty. They had done everything right to get themselves down field to be in a position to win that game. However, due to the snap decision of a man from South Africa, the opportunity to be legitimately crowned as world champions was forever lost.
Even if they were to win their next two games by 100 points each there would always remain a question mark over their title. Yes, without question, the Wallabies were robbed.
That being said, there are one or two things I would like to respond to.
Firstly, that penalty did not decide the game! Only a decision made after the 80 minutes had elapsed could rightfully be said to have decided a game.
As the last play of the game it has an unquestionable finality. This game had two minutes left to play – an eternity in rugby outcomes. The Wallabies should have had a scrum 30 metres out with two minutes to play. Would they have found the winning score?
No one can say. But this we can say without question – Craig Joubert robbed them of the chance to win the game ‘fair and square’. Countless rugby matches have been won with a try in the final minutes.
Further to my point though, even after Foley kicked the dubious penalty Scotland still held their destiny in their own hands. They could have opted for a short kick-off and contested for possession – giving them the chance to make the winning score.
They chose to kick long. I will say it again, the penalty did not decide the game.
Secondly, I, like many others, find the response from World Rugby unconscionable.
In my two-and-a-half decades of madly following rugby, I have never seen the isolated decision of a referee singled out in such a way. As many have pointed out, why analyse only the one decision?
Could a reasonable person conclude that only the last penalty can have a bearing on the outcome of a game? In a 1995 State of Origin game, the Queensland team scored a penalty early in the first half.
As it turned out, it was the only score of the game. Did this penalty have a significant impact on the game’s outcome? Yes.
Could a reasonable person conclude that it decided the game? No. Since any penalty awarded can have a significant impact on a game’s outcome, do we honestly want a guy sitting in front of a TV in a little box to endlessly review every single decision?
Do we want to sit through a four hour game? Do we really want our referees to be scared of making a decision? Craig saw but one angle in the fraction of a second. He made the best decision he could. Would you want the future of your working life to be decided on similar grounds?
Lastly, the response of some of your countrymen at the ground and in the following days has shown me a side of Scotland that I would rather not have seen. I sincerely hope this is the character of an outspoken few.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.