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As disappointing as it was to see two red cards handed out during Saturday’s Super Rugby fixtures, what was even more striking was the reaction, or non-reaction, of some of Australia’s ‘expert’ rugby commentators.
Tim Horan, 80 matches for the Wallabies, and Nathan Sharpe, 116 matches, have records which place them both at, or very near, the top of the pile in terms of their contributions to Australian rugby.
Both are eminently sensible men, and good communicators who, with their recent knowledge of the game at the highest level, should be well placed to deliver insightful analysis.
Indeed, one assumes this is the very reason why Fox Sports engages them in their Super Rugby coverage.
Both however, let themselves, their employer, and their viewers down on Saturday night, courtesy of weak-kneed, run-a-mile mumbling, which failed to pass any reasonable test of what constitutes valuable commentary.
Their reactions to the red cards dished out to the Sharks’ Jean Deysel and the Reds’ Ed O’Donoghoe were poor.
Horan laid the groundwork early during a half-time cross to his base at Suncorp Stadium, after the Sharks had been reduced to 14 men against the Crusaders. The reason being a crude and unnecessary stomp to the head of Crusaders flanker Jordan Taufua, by Sharks openside flanker Jean Deysel.
The incident was not seen by match referee Rohan Hoffman, but upon intervention of the TMO, he was able to halt the game and review the footage. What he saw left him no choice but to send Deysel packing with a red card.
It is hard to imagine anyone but the most rusted-on Sharks fan taking issue with the decision, and, to my mind, this was correct and efficient use of the technology. Whatever the provocation, thuggish play, off the ball, to the head of an opponent simply has no place in rugby in 2014.
Asked for his thoughts on the first half, Horan referred to an “alleged” stomp by Deysel. It was an extremely unfortunate use of the word alleged.
Possibly Horan was under some misguided impression that he might unduly influence a later tribunal hearing, thus throwing in “alleged” to cover himself.
But even if for some reason Horan wasn’t certain about the stomping himself, there was still no reason to tread so softly. Deysel was clearly sent off for stomping, not allegedly stomping. There was no reason not to call it as it was.
What rugby supporters and parents of children playing the game want to see is commentators reinforcing that such behaviour has no place in the game. To say unequivocally that kicking or stomping an opponent in the head is a red card offence. To state loud and clear that all players have an expectation and a right to complete every match without being attacked in that way.
Little were we to know however, that this wasn’t to be the low point of the evening.
With time almost up at Suncorp, and the Reds and Rebels locked at 27-27, referee Steve Walsh penalised Rebels replacement flanker Sean McMahon for being third man into a scuffle between his captain Scott Higginbotham and the Reds’ Ed O’Donoghue.
Mike Harris peeled off a long touch finder, giving the Reds an attacking lineout and a chance to press for the win. But just as the lineout throw was made, Walsh was alerted to an incident by TMO Steve Lescinski, and pulled the pin on the play.
It quickly became obvious that the Lescinski was concerned about O’Donoghue attacking the face of Higginbotham while they were on the ground and, with each replay, the hole he and the Reds were in got deeper and deeper.
To his credit, Walsh seemed very reluctant to have the match decided by an off-the-ball incident. His instinct was to let the play take its course if possible.
But Lescinski held his ground, firmly telling Walsh that it was a serious incident and essentially giving Walsh no other option than to red card O’Donoghue, reverse the penalty, and hand the game over to the Rebels.
While partisan Reds supporters made their displeasure obvious, once again this was, in my view, clearly the right decision, and a vindication of the TMO review system.
I am no fan of assistant referees and TMO’s interrupting the flow of games, particularly for trivial matters, or things the match referee has seen for himself, but Lescinski deserves full credit here for holding his nerve and calling it how it was.
Which is more that can be said for the Fox Sports commentary team.
O’Donoghue may well be not guilty of eye gouging in the classic sense – and certainly Higginbotham appeared to suffer no injury or scratches to his eyes. But, from two angles, it was clear that O’Donoghue consciously had his fingers and knuckles into Higginbotham’s eye sockets and was giving them a solid work over.
Call it what you like, but it was a terrible look and it most certainly constituted attacking the face of an opponent.
Higginbotham for his part was not passive, pushing forward with his head into O’Donoghue, and also, albeit briefly, running his own fingers too closely across his opponent’s face.
None of which was adequately addressed by the commentary team. Senior statesman Greg Clark seemed lost for words, and Horan once again fumbled around the issue, escaping the spotlight by throwing to Nathan Sharpe on the sideline.
Although not explicitly saying so, Sharpe seemed disappointed that the match officials had interfered in a matter which had already been sorted by the players. Nothing to report here, move on.
By not explicitly denouncing O’Donoghue’s actions, all three comprehensively failed their viewers. Once again, parents of children who play rugby should be left in no doubt that such behaviour is unacceptable, and should feel comforted that systems are in place to prevent, or at least minimize, such incidents.
Worse was to come, when an emotional Reds player, James Horwill, expressed his displeasure to Sharpe at being “robbed by a stupid refereeing decision”.
As wrong as he was, one can almost excuse a gutted Horwill for being in complete and utter denial in the heat of the moment.
But any reporter worth his salt would have latched on to such a juicy half volley with relish. Which decision? How do you feel you were robbed? What did you say to the referee?
Sharpe asked none of these things, he simply changed the subject.
If Sharpe isn’t skilled enough to ask follow up questions like this then Fox should either train him properly or discard him. If he was protecting a mate by not letting him dig himself into deeper trouble, then he is even more culpable and simply worthless in the role.
Fox Sports already have two buffoon commentators in Greg Martin and Phil Kearns, who devalue the coverage through partisan barracking and lack of knowledge of the laws. Surely they don’t need any more.
A sharp contrast was provided by Sky NZ’s Justin Marshall who, while obviously taking care not to take a cheap shot at Deysel, nevertheless made it clear that his actions had no place on a rugby field and warranted a red card.
On the evidence of Saturday night’s coverage, Fox Sports needs to take a lead from across the Tasman and seriously reconsider the quality and professionalism of its rugby coverage.