All Blacks playing by the same rules

It’s still an open question whether the All Blacks are showing chinks in their armour after defeats to three different teams over the last two seasons.

However, there might be one development in rugby which could now be working against them: the attitude of referees.

New Zealand lost to the British Lions after Sonny Bill Williams drew a red card. It was a game New Zealand could still have won even with 14 men, so the blame isn’t entirely his – but his dismissal is the main reason.

Reports noted afterwards that Williams was the first All Black to be sent off since Colin Meads in 1967. That seems like a long period of continued self-discipline on the field, but what if it has also reflected the reluctance of referees to sanction All Blacks?

And what if that attitude might be changing?

I would argue that the New Zealand, by virtue of being consistently the best team, earned themselves a champion’s benefit of the doubt. It’s a quirk of officiating which runs throughout the game.

Only last year, Dean Ryan of lowly-ranked Worcester claimed a confidential referees report showed officials in the English Premiership frequently favoured top-ranked teams.

The way the laws are going currently, though, superior teams can no longer expect that kind of bonus from officials. Increasingly, incidents are being judged on the outcome, rather than intent.

This is important for New Zealand rugby. After the 2007 World Cup quarter-final loss to France, some Kiwi supporters said their team vowed to “take the referee out of the equation”. The idea is to stay disciplined, and score so heavily, that the vagaries of officiating would be negated.

Two World Cups out of two is a good haul since the 2007 failure, so something clearly went right.

But times change.

In rugby today, an increasing number of on-field sanctions result from actions which would once have just been called accidents. No matter how disciplined you aim to be, if you hit someone the wrong way, then you’ll be leaving the field.

You often hear officials saying “I have no choice” when brandishing a yellow or red card, passing the buck to the laws. That means referees are no longer subconsciously awed by the consequences of penalizing a better team.

Many former players bemoan the sanctions being awarded. It’s common to hear pundits say “What else could he have done?” when a defender ends up with his arm around someone’s neck. It may not seem in the spirit of rugby, but the new laws are more about future litigation.

World Rugby doesn’t want anyone claiming later that they have ignored obvious risks. Referees know this, so they don’t want to be lenient on issues of dangerous play.

I think that might put New Zealand back in the pack from an officiating perspective. I’m not arguing here that New Zealand infringes more than any other team, simply that they do so at comparable rates as other major sides, and that hasn’t always been fully reflected.

That fifty year period with no-one sent off? We know that at least some other All Blacks should have been red carded during that time. Not just occasions when we, as one-eyed supporters of our own team, think a New Zealand player crossed the line.

Look at when a player has been cited after the match and banned. Andrew Hore in 2012 against Wales is an obvious example, and I don’t think any New Zealand supporter would take issue with that one.

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Under current laws, Hore would have been sent off at the time, because his offence was easy to see on replay. In 2012, the TMO had no scope to interfere, so his punishment came afterwards.

Past judgements show New Zealand deserved more on-field red card punishments. They also show the opposition got too many. Simon Shaw, Bismark du Plessis and Damian de Allende all received on-field red cards In Test matches against New Zealand which were later negated. Hard to think another top team has received that kind of largesse.

Jerome Kaino was also penalised during that Lions series. With some suggesting that Sonny Bill Williams should be put out to grass, perhaps the answer is for the All Blacks to drop these older players.

However, Beauden Barrett drew a yellow card against the Lions too, which was his fourth by then. It’s not just old lags who don’t know where the line is.