Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has apologised over his outburst following his team’s 29-28 loss to Wales while World Rugby has issued him and Rugby Australia with a written warning.
The gentlemanly Rennie was left seething over what he called “horrendous” officiating in Saturday’s defeat in Cardiff that completed the Wallabies’ winless tour to Europe.
He was particularly critical of a decision by the Scottish referee Mike Adamson to award a try to Welshman Nick Tomkins off what he considered a deliberate knock on – having already seen his fullback Kurtley Beale sin-binned for a similar offence.
And he also took aim at South African TMO Marius Jonker, criticising him for his part in the two Australia defeats against Scotland and Wales.
It left World Rugby issuing a written warning to both the Australian governing body and Rennie on Friday.
The governing body said that rugby was based on “trust and respect” and Rennie’s comments were “clearly not aligned with these values”.
Rugby Australia issued a short statement saying: “Dave Rennie wishes to apologise to the match officials and to World Rugby for the choice of language used in post-match media commitments following the Wallabies Test match against Wales in Cardiff.
“The choice of language and its timing did not meet the standards required from a coach or official in upholding Rugby’s core values of discipline, integrity and respect.”
It said Rugby Australia and Rennie accepted the formal warning issued by World Rugby.
The apology was a marked turnaround from Rennie’s stance last weekend when he was adamant he’d done the right thing in speaking out straight after the game.
“How do I support our team, by biting my lip and us getting apologies?” he said then.
“It doesn’t change the result. It was important I spoke my mind, I’ve been a coach for 20 years and have never had a crack at the referee or referee group, but felt I had to do that tonight.
“I am not emotional, not overreacting, it’s important to state our feelings.”
World Rugby responded to the Rennie apology, saying: “Match officials are the backbone of the sport, and without them there is no game.
“World Rugby condemns any public criticism of their selection, performance or integrity which undermines or threatens their role, the trust-based coach-officials feedback process, and more importantly, the values that are at the heart of the sport and must be upheld.”
Rennie’s apology comes the day after South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus withdrew his appeal against a two-month ban and apologised to Nic Berry for his video criticism of the Australian referee following the first Test against the British & Irish Lions in July.
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
"Interference with the attack" ??? Woww . So what's the other side doing on the field then. How many times does these need to be covered. There is noooo such infringement in rugby as a deliberate knock down. Go to the laws and read the law regards "knock on" then go to the definitions and read "knock on" then "forward".
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
No the law is not flawed. It is to do with the way it is refereed. It is about intent. The infringement is intentional knock on. The sanction is a penalty. The referees however seem to have at some point (several seasons ago ) got into a big tizz over it all and started dishing out YCs. I think what you're implying is a new law that says you can't block/knock/slap a pass by an opponent at all. If so that would create a whole lot more issues.
Marlin
Roar Rookie
All I know is, it's getting very hard to watch
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Show me Rassie's apology or STFU! There isnt one.
BlouBul
Roar Rookie
No backbone to stand by what he said.
BlouBul
Roar Rookie
Berry admitted to 13 errors. That in itself is bad.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Match officiating , The Laws of Rugby and the structures supporting all processes from new Law proposals and implementation , to reporting and review procedures needs an Internationally coordinated effort at achieving positive change.. ..All parties affected must have a say , must bring their doubts , concerns and proposals to the table without fear.. and changes must come.. Nothing new in my statement or controversial methinks….Rassies methodology of tackling this problem however may even have set back any progress by placing World Rugby in a situation where they may possibly see themselves as bowing to pressure making them even more resistant to change than what a bunch of Old men usually already are… ..I regret what Erasmus did , even more so as a fellow citizen of his.. ..Rennie too had no right to go about it the way he did either …. Mike Adamson ,Marius Jonker and Nic Berry have now had their careers tarnished.Both Erasmus and Rennie are not just anyone in the Sport ..They are high profile , respected individuals and their opinions carry weight ….I’m sure all 3 Refs are decent hardworking individuals who do not deserve this kind of negative scrutiny they are being placed under. There have even been comments on SA Rugby sites that Berry may even have been deliberately dishonest casting malicious and unfounded doubt on his integrity….Similar comments also emerging about Jonker right here….Its bloody not on ..
Ex force fan
Guest
Show me where Rassie implied that NB is a racist. What he did say was that the referees, not only Berry, treated the Lions and Bok captain differently and then shown examples. Kolisi was treated with less respect than Win Jones. Then racist correlation was made by others not Rassie. Rennie didn’t criticise the referee about calls that favoured the Wallabies, he only complained about calls that disadvantaged the Wallabies…same as Rassie. There is no difference both were biased towards their own team. The problem was that both referees were out of their depth. The only difference is the length- 62 min vs 6 min and the nationality of the complainants and officials.
Ex force fan
Guest
Jacko you’re the one that states that Rassie apology is not an apology while Rennie’s apology is good enough. I think to state that you want to apologise is a much stronger apology than stating you wish to apologise…but that is just logic. The hypocrisy is so obvious when the only difference is degree.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Oh how the mind boggles Bobbles, you are the one that is whining, maybe you need to man up and be a selector! You do realise that there is more than one selector don’t you? Stay on your couch but maybe lay off the juice.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Ken, they have overreacted to attacks via social media - I am guessing, of course. The issues the TMO was designed to overcome ie refs making try decisions or red card and getting it wrong could just as easy be resolved by the ref automatically requesting additional vision and you don't need another ref (opinion) to do that. I would look at the scrum and TMOs as the key slowing down factors and then once that is cleaned up, have a look at advantage and tighter offside.
Objective Observer
Roar Rookie
Not so .. either a coach can complain about the Ref or not. Many seem to think Rennie should be held to a different standard, on complaining and on results, not sure why. Personally I support open public review of Ref’s, TMO’s et.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Having an electronic offside line along the lines of a hawkeye/ball tracking system is not a crazy idea for pro rugby. Would keep everyone back another half metre or more and give a bit more space for ball movement.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Ken, I reckon debark the TMOs totally! They can only give video evidence when the ref calls for it, give the Captains two challenges each in a game. Also the TMO can only get involved to confirm wether a try has or has not been scored, plus for offside when needed! Again this is up to the ref to ask for it. Everything else the TMO is not heard from, and the ref always will make the final call.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Yes that is the point these days isnt it. Refs arnt making incorrect decisions they just arnt reffing both sides equally...
Jacko
Roar Rookie
I wish you would learn to spell. Its sadly lacking. Just like your comprehension. Hehehehehehe
Jacko
Roar Rookie
HaHa that nasty Jacob eh! He’s a shocker isnt he! Hehehehehe!!! Now I get why your name makes no sense. You just misspelt it every time you wrote it for a few years… :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Wish!!! Want!!! what is the difference? Geez for a Ex force fan you sure get all upset about what Rassie does eh you little closet Rassie man! Change your name to something that reflects your love for Rassie.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Yes, Jacko. (Did you realise your spelling is very close to Jaco?) Has anyone seen you two in the same room? But to the point, the Scottish ref was mostly correct, no complaint. But there was another team on the park that didn’t seem to attract as much of his cop/jailer/executioner attention.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
“ We know they will Make mistakes and just hope they will not only call one side” This gives rise to something the TMO could do, instead of wrecking the game with his personal pedantry. A TMO could be a clerk of ‘case law’ from the first whistle. He documents precedents set by the whistler. “Jaco you pinged the red team for going off feet”, not supporting weight, etc etc. The TMO then adjudicates the referee in real time. “Jaco, you missed the blue team diving over and sealing off. Precedent was set in the 6th minute against red team” Still an imperfect system, because the ref and TMO might not catch every inconsistency quick enough , but it could end the repeat multiphase transgressions that some teams get away with, because the ref has forgotten the precedent he himself set early in the game. So the TMO would be, in a way running a B2B review (publicly available the following week) out of ear shot of the fans. The main advantage would be that the TMO would be too busy with the ‘cases’ to interrupt the fun. Apologies for singling out Jaco, but in fairness, he does seem to enjoy too much his villainous role.