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.
speakup
Guest
I watched the review over and over and over again. If you watch the video in slow motion, you'll see quite clearly that the Scottish player threw the ball in before he was tackled out. Paul Perez should have been awarded that try. While that doesn't make up for the mistakes and turnovers that Samoa were guilty of, this try WOULD have changed the game. I believe that. That was Samoa's game, hands down, unfortunately luck wasn't on their side. Hats off to the team who went down fighting.
kovana
Roar Pro
Skellet.. Sorry, but i think the premise of your post is way off. I think its more to do with the ingrained belief that Tier 1 nations are more disciplined etc rather than so called Tier 2 nations.. which is why Tier 1 nations sometimes get the benefit of the doubt in regards over the lesser established rugby nations IMO. I dont think color has anything to do with it.... and im quite frankly, slightly disappointed that you would jump to that conclusion.
Vaiz
Guest
hear hear!! Well said Matthew Skellet
Ben Farell
Guest
Agreed.
Rugby Fan
Roar Guru
Uncle is talking about the November 2000 Twickenham match when Dan Luger went over at the death and grounded it a la Horne. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYH9w15kmH0 There were rumours about a week after the match that Sky had two other less conclusive views of the try. The broadcaster has always maintained it showed all the camera angles on TV and nothing has surfaced in the years since. If there really had been more, we'd have seen it by now. It was certainly not a straightforward decision but I'll take it. Mind you, I'd rather have had the benefit of the doubt for Mark Cueto in the 2007 World Cup Final.
Sylvester
Guest
"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?
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Hi Kovana ! I have written on this site on numerous occasions about blatant referee bias that invariably favours not just the top "1st Tier" countries but the "white" 1st Tier countries and when it was between the AB's and any other "white" 1 st tier country -as long as Mr O'Brien was in charge of the Referees -the penalty count almost always somehow favoured the AB's . Your concern is shared by many of us who want a 'level-playing field ' and where every test is not pre-determined (just ask the italians how they felt at their treatment by Mr Jourbet in their six-nations match against Ireland as just one example)I also admire Mr Sapolu for having the intestinal fortitude to sacrifice his professional career and reputation to speak the truth about how the whole RWC 'show' is rigged in favour of the "1st Tier Nations ". You should feel free to speak your mind -no-one will pour scorn on your endeavors to see a fairer outcome :-)
SkinnyKid
Guest
join the dots lads...there are suggestions that Owen was on the end of some nasty comments from the Samoans.
Tautai
Guest
What a good idea you got there!
Matt
Guest
Unfortunately they video ref when they don't need to, and when they do they don't. But alas humans make mistakes. This is *another* example of the sideline official being the one to screw it up! Across all codes the touchies are making FAR worse decisions than the ref's in my opinion. They often don't call the forward pass, the knock ons, the "you might want to take a look at that again to see if it really was a try". They have a lot less decisions a game to make, percent wise from what I see they mess up a lot more.
Matt
Guest
Unfortunately they video ref when they don't need to, and when they do they don't. But alas humans make mistakes. This is *another* example of the sideline official being the one to screw it up! Across all codes the touchies are making FAR worse decisions than the ref's in my opinion. They often don't call the forward pass, the knock ons, the "you might want to take a look at that again to see if it really was a try". They have a lot less decisions a game to make, percent wise from what I see they mess up a lot more.
Sledgeandhammer
Guest
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.
kovana
Guest
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?
kovana
Guest
No real evidence for that statemtent Frank.
Ben Farell
Guest
Well thats just blatantly untrue. England dominated that game, if you recall it was the day the Wallabies scrum was completely destroyed. Here is the match report http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/international/4420364.stm
Argyle
Roar Guru
That sucks. Imagine how Eddie Jones and the Wallabies felt when they lost to England circa 2005 at Twickenham when the TMO awarded a last minute tryto seal the game for England. It later came out that the TV director held back footage that showed evidence of a no-try to ensure England won! ...it happens
NelsonSagato
Guest
I don't think the touch/line judge should be suspended. But, i do believe that the IRB needs to take responsibility for not having a TMO on hand. We are in the so-called professional era of rugby and no matter where a game is being played things should be handled professionally before, during, and after. My thoughts when watching the game was they (refs) are screwing us. Now that i am calm i still believe we are being screwed. But, i turn my blame to the people that run the game (the IRB). So unprofessional from biases, rankings, money, and eligibility. I would much rather play with a chip on our shoulder than be given a win. Give us a Rematch!
Dasher
Roar Guru
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.
kovana
Guest
After further research, it seems the Asst ref is Ian Smith from the ARU! Australians EXPLAIN THYSELVES! :) Anyways, please... no where did i state in my article that there was a great 'home unions conspiracy'. All i wanted to point out, that it was a MASSIVE error. Imagine if that call was done in a match between a 3N team vs 6N team and with THAT close a scoreline? What would the roars reaction be like? Also, im not really sure it was the 60th min mark, closer to the 70th minute.
Wilson
Guest
I understand where you are coming from with wanting the game to be as close to club rugby as possible. However the effects of a poor decisions are just too serious to let them slide. This is big bucks and effects 100,000s if not millions of people when a decision goes against a team at even super level - it is an international competition after all. I admit it won't be withouit flaws of interpretation but surely if it stops even half the really bad calls we are 50% better off?