While the 30-6 scoreline may look convincing, the Wallabies can feel very, very hard done by after an extraordinary afternoon at Twickenham.
Credit to England for the win, though three tries in the final few minutes blew the scoreline out and it could have been a very different story had the Wallabies not (once again) been on the receiving end of some pretty awful officiating.
Michael Cheika cops a lot of his for his theatrics in the coaches’ box during games, unfairly so in my opinion.
Often labeled a ‘whinger’ or a ‘bad sport’, the reality is that he rides every tackle with his players and emotions run high – and television directors know it makes good TV.
Last week Eddie Jones apologised for being caught on camera swearing after an England error against Argentina. There were no cameras in Jones’ face this week as the host broadcaster, Sky Sports instead focused all their energy on capturing every mastication from the Australian box. Coincidence? No chance.
The cameras only ever show Cheika when the Wallabies are on the end of a dud refereeing decision because it serves to further the narrative that all he does is complain.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
He had plenty to complain about on Saturday night. The Wallabies were on the end of a royal screw-job in London which included incorrect and inconsistent officiating from a referee, Ben O’Keefe, who was far out of his depth.
It was farcical that such an under-qualified referee should be given the biggest rugby match in the world for that weekend. The referee is supposed to facilitate the game and administer the laws, not decide who wins.
O’Keefe’s inability to correctly and consistently apply the laws of the game went a long way towards ensuring the home side did not lose.
The headline blunder was the non-awarding of Marika Koroibete’s try which would have leveled the scores with over 10 minutes to play, but there were a number of other controversial moments which went against Australia.
Michael Hooper was the first Australian to have a try disallowed, with replays showing the flanker ahead of Tevita Kurindrani after the centre had grubbered the ball ahead before Koroibete scuffed an attempt to soccer it into the in-goal and Hooper dived on the loose ball to score.
The ruling was correct in black and white, but the reality is that Hooper was run on-side by Koroibete two seconds after the ball was kicked.
According to the law, an offside player must not advance – but when a player is running full tilt it’s impossible to stop dead on the spot, and by the time Hooper had even adjusted his stride to attempt to slow down he had already been played onside again.
Hooper later fell victim to the referee’s warnings of repeated infringement, and was shown a yellow card for the 8th time in Test rugby.
That one is hard to argue with – rightly or wrongly the Wallabies had been repeatedly penalised in the first half and when that happens, it’s fair enough for the referee to take further action.
What frustrated the Wallabies was that in the second half Ben O’Keefe warned England captain Owen Farrell after a string of penalties that any more in their half would be deserving of a yellow card – only to renege on that threat two minutes later when Chris Robshaw was penalised for not rolling away with the Wallabies on the attack in England territory.
That wasn’t the only inconsistency with regards to yellow cards – Kurtley Beale was binned for a deliberate knock-down on the half-way line just before halftime.
The call seemed harsh given the location of the supposed infringement, which lead to Beale laughing incredulously at O’Keefe as he produced the card.
A penny for Cheika’s thoughts when early in the second half England’s Maro Itoje was penalised for deliberately knocking the ball down. On the half way line. But unlike Beale, was not shown a card.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Then came the kicker – the Koroibete no-try. After some terrific attacking play from the Wallabies, Koroibete crashed over the line (after colliding with teamate Stephen Moore who did his best to get in the way).
Unsure of whether the ball was grounded, O’Keefe sent the matter upstairs to the TMO. Incredibly, not only did the officials not manage to apply common sense and award the try, upon the clearly audible requests of the England players who were standing beside O’Keefe, the decision was made to penalise Australia for Moore obstructing Chris Robshaw as he attempted to tackle Koroibete.
Robshaw would not have stopped Koribete, that’s just a fact. Far from aiding the Wallabies, Moore’s clumsy intervention actually prevented Koroibete from getting over the line faster and gave Robshaw a chance.
The complete cock-up from the dynamic officiating team reached critical mass when they failed to check if Robshaw was actually even onside for the phase where he would supposedly have made the try-saving tackle – he wasn’t.
He was still retreating from the previous phase and had come from an offside position. What a farce.
As if to rub salt in the wounds of the Wallabies, England then scored a sensational try which will never be repeated in a million years of rugby.
A clearing kick headed for the sideline seemed to defy the laws of physics and tip-toe along the sideline just long enough for England to get a foot to it and incredibly keep it in play before streaking away to score the clincher. Upon review, it appeared that the tip of the ball may have touched the chalk, but in reality it was not conclusive enough to overturn the decision – it just seemed to be in keeping with the theme of the game and the feeling of injustice that the Australians were suffering from.
The Wallabies did plenty wrong against England. Ball security was terrible as Australia refused to adapt to the wet conditions and continued to try and play fast and loose. The lineout suffered in Adam Coleman’s absence. At one point England stole a throw without even having to lift a jumper.
Reece Hodge became the latest Wallaby to kick the ball dead while trying to find touch from a penalty. The inconvenient truth is that the best teams in the world just don’t make those sorts of mistakes and that’s why the Wallabies are still that half step behind the All Blacks and England.
For Michael Cheika and the Australian squad it’s on to Scotland who ran New Zealand close at Murrayfield for another tough test and if the coach should even sigh throughout, the cameras won’t miss it.
Davster
Guest
An article which contradicts itself by saying the decision was lawful but wrong. Also, that 4 international board officials, all qualified, have somehow robbed Australia in a 30-6 scoreline. Incredulous ! Officials should be under scrutiny but this is ridiculous . I agree the scoreline didn’t reflect the overall game but it happens frequently - often when sides don’t finish off their play . Oh ... low and behold the following week “little Scotland” post a record scoring margin . Different officials .... same players, same coach . Go figure . After spending time in New Zealand, who I think expect to win by divine right, Australia are following suit . Consider Aus performance against NZ and the home whitewash loss against England last year . Yeah .... can’t be the quality of team , coach or the efforts of the opposition or luck of the bounce . Careful ... or you’ll “all come a whinging Matilda “!!
Barry from Brisbane
Guest
Actually I'd have red carded Beale for back chat - yellow for knockdown - clearly no attempt to catch it and another yellow for backchat = red
JB
Guest
Honest appraisal hard to say it would have effected the result though, wallabies clearly pushed hard to score points and gave some up as a result, I’m really proud of our team no Folau Tui Dempsey or Coleman still believe they are on the right trajectory.
AssumedTooMuch
Guest
FunBus, Plenty of research out there showing referees/umpires, in any sport with a stadium packed full of very loud home team supporters, favouring the home team in their decisions. And no this is not cheating, its just part of human nature. Things that were clearly missed in my opinion: 1) Hooper Try/No Try: Obstruction on Kuridrani after he kicked the ball by Ford preventing Kuridrani from moving forward to bring Hooper on side sooner. 2) Koroibete Try/No Try Own Farrell clearly offside when he attempts to tackle Koroibete and impedes him in doing so. Even if a no try was the decision (which is an possible outcome) it should have been a penalty to Australia for Owen Farrell being offside. I think your point about Hooper not moving forward when he is in an offside position can be construed as selection application of the rules, which is a favourite past time of some English supporters.
AssumedTooMuch
Guest
Rebel, I think its fair to point out your and the referee/TMO selective interoperation of the rules. Look at the replay of the match again and you will see numerous examples of players advancing (particularly forwards) before they are brought on side and then subsequently being involved in play, typically tackling the opposition after the opposition go the ball. And no action is taken by the referee. Obstruction of a player after a kick is a rule also, in case you didn't know. I wouldn't be surprised in this game, if the situations were reversed, (i.e.England attacking and Australia were defending) that the referee/TMO would have found reason for the try to stand.
Jeffrey
Guest
The constant whinging about the Moore obstruction is what is annoying me the most. Everyone knows that the pass from Koribete to Foley a phase earlier was a metre forward so it should have been disallowed even before the obstruction call was made. Everyone has surely noticed this but are deliberately choosing to ignore it in order to console themselves by believing their team was hard done by. Emotion ultimately gets in the way of objectivity when your own team is involved.
JimmyB
Guest
Nah, didn't think so.
AssumedTooMuch
Guest
Look again FunBus. The English team are up against 13 men and they don't know what to do. They have no idea how to exploit this advantage.
AssumedTooMuch
Guest
Open the other eye, you see Owen Farrell in what is clearly an offside position tries to tackle Koroibete and in doing so impedes his progress. And not picked up by the ref.
AssumedTooMuch
Guest
JimmyB, FunBus, Try opening the other eye for once. You might surprise yourselves. I'm not your research assistant, plenty of evidence out their, if you'r willing to look.
Marc
Guest
Mate that’s a bit harsh, think you will find most Kiwis are on the side of the Wallabies this one.
Beezlebub
Guest
Bloody Kiwis out to get you......
ajg
Guest
completely agree. technically correct calls does not equate to awful officiating. I wonder how he would feel if the shoe was on the other foot? At the end of the day, the aussies just didnt play well enough to deserve a win
PeterMc
Guest
Had your 15 seconds of fame Jack - time to ride off into the sunset or pursue sports journalism in a sport where you understand the rules!
Homer Gain
Guest
Put this way, if the Daly try was good, the Cueto one in the 2007 RWC final was better (and we would have won the cup if it had been awarded). I wouldn't have complained if Daly's try had been disallowed, nor did I think the yellow for Beale was as cut and dried as some suggested (it plainly was a deliberate knock-on but I'm not sure we would have converted the try). On the other hand complaints about Hooper's YC ("there was no warning" they bleat) was incontrovertible. Basically Geoff Parkes get's it spot on.
JimmyB
Guest
This guy has got some serious problems.
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
" I thought taking an angle focusing on the controversial refereeing decisions would be something different" God alone knows how you thought that. Did you not notice how many "we wuz robbed" articles are out there ? I mean really, an article on a game of football that comments on the ref being something different ? Which code anywhere in the world could that possibly apply to.
JimmyB
Guest
I thought Beale was hard done by (he got a yellow card) ergo he shouldn't have got a yellow card?! Dry ball and I have him scoring a celebrated intercept try - make his hand a magnet and the ball magnetic then maybe...although the weight might mean that he's caught. A penalty was awarded so he was in the wrong - sage words indeed, worth remembering in general you could say. Btw, thinking you heard the ref say that it went backwards otherwise he would have been carded and him actually saying that are so very far apart I'm afraid because he didn't, so it makes your other point moot. Apologies if you felt like I was mocking you, truth be told, I was a little, but in my defence, you sort of made it mandatory. ?
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Not sure if you are mocking me or not. I didn't say Beale's was definite, I AM saying that Itoge's was cynical. A penalty was awarded so he was in the wrong. I think I heard the ref say that it went backwards otherwise he would have been carded. I don't see what difference that makes. he intentionally played at the ball from an offside position.
canetoad
Guest
which means you got nothing to counter the argument ....