French referee Mathieu Raynal made the right decision when he asked the All Blacks to feed a scrum after he had first awarded a penalty to Australia and then waited, seemingly forever, for flyhalf Bernard Foley to take the kick to touch.
There was little time left to play and after the scrum feed went the All Blacks way, they scored a try through Jordie Barrett to win the game 39-37.
Doubtless the Australians would have felt gutted, doubtless this kind of decision has been rarely, if ever, seen before, doubtless it decided the game the All Blacks way, when it looked very much like an Australian victory was the only outcome.
But it was the right decision, taken at a time when its impact would be really felt.
Time-wasting has become an art-form in rugby to the extent that though the game is supposed to run for 80 minutes, one rarely sees the ball in play for even half that time. It is high time that some referee made a statement about it and Raynal has done so in the most emphatic way possible.
I watched the game a second time to see the extent of time-wasting and tactics that could have annoyed Raynal and led to his last-minute decision. There were more than a few such instances.
Referee Mathieu Raynal speaks to Nic White and Bernard Foley. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Rugby players have one cardinal rule while in a game: play to the whistle. On two occasions after the whistle was blown when Australia infringed, the player involved threw the ball away – not violently, not very far, but still enough to cause the opposition some delay in getting play going again. One of the players guilty of this was Jake Gordon, the other was Bernard Foley.
On another occasion, shortly after half-time, Raynal asked for “number nine” to come to him, in order to issue a yellow card for collapsing a maul. Nine is Gordon; he took his own sweet time to come up to the referee and when he was told he was getting a yellow card, asked: “You sure about that?” Not the best way to address a referee.
On another occasion, New Zealand prop Tyrel Lomax tackled hooker Folau Fainga’a and almost upended him; luckily he allowed Fainga’a to come down on his back and did not flip him fully. For this, Raynal awarded a penalty.
Foley was nearby when the referee awarded the penalty and laughed in the referee’s face. Like many others, he was expecting Lomax to get a yellow card. But laughing in the match official’s face… well, that isn’t exactly calculated to win friends and influence people.
And then was the second-half try which was scored by Andrew Kellaway off a forward pass from Foley. After the touchdown, Raynal was seeking an opinion from the television match official as to whether the pass was forward or not. Foley quickly converted the try without waiting for the TMO to say anything.
Apart from all this, there were numerous delays during lineouts and scrums. Periodically, Australian players resorted to developing “injuries” which seemed to mysteriously disappear after a few minutes.
These tactics are not only indulged in by Australia; South Africa is well-known for doing the same so that its players, who tend to get quite tired as they are mostly big men, can get a few minutes of rest.
In fact, during many games in South Africa, there are as many as four water breaks during a game – apart from the main break between halves.
Most referees are afraid to push the players to stop indulging in these time-wasting tactics. One of the few cases where I witnessed a referee get tough about this was when Georgia’s Nika Amashukeli ordered Argentina to join a lineout immediately, instead of consulting each other before the set-piece. This was during the first game in the Rugby Championship between New Zealand and Argentina on 27 August.
Amashukeli, it must be added, is a new entrant to top-level refereeing.
One hopes that Raynal’s crackdown will be followed by other referees and the law will be laid down to players who are clearly trying to use up as much time as possible.
In Australia, rugby union is the fourth football code – well behind AFL, NRL and soccer in a country of just 24 million people. Union is short of supporters as things stand; all the time-wasting will only increase the number who can’t be bothered watching the players’ antics.
In the AFL, time is counted only when the ball is in play. There are four quarters of 20 minutes each, but given that only playing time is counted, the match runs for nearly two hours in all.
There were complaints about playing time in the NRL a year or two back, but the administrators took steps to fix the time wasting.
For anything to happen in rugby, there will probably need to be a review. And then another, followed by an inquiry. And in the end, the status quo will be maintained.
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
10 I musta got at least 20.
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
I don't think it's possible to fit any more non-sequiturs into one passage of text.
Peter Russell
Guest
Any prior time wasting by the ABs or the Wallabies is highly relevant to the question of whether the laws are being applied evenly or fairly throughout a game. Otherwise, ot leaves the referee open to criticism of inconsistency and unfairness.
TiredOldGit
Roar Rookie
Why did the ref lie to White and say "I told your ten we play or I will blow a scrum" when he didn't say that at all. Why did he claim he was that clear which is a lie. If he was so clear, why did he lie to White about what he said to Foley? You can tell his ego got ruffled and he egged it. "You think I won't blow". All about his little ego Listen and watch on this roar article. https://www.theroar.com.au/rugby-union/video/listen-does-this-full-audio-of-bledisloe-finish-prove-ref-told-a-porky-to-nic-white-1226116/
Zero_Cool
Roar Rookie
World Rugby need to bring in a 'Timer' 30 seconds from sanction being awarded, the teams must be ready to resume play, 15 seconds extra (total of 45) for a lineout from a penalty kick. First infringement scrum against offending team Second infringement penalty Third infringement yellow card to the Captain. 15 seconds for an injured player to be able to resume play, otherwise they need to leave the field immediately can resume play at the next stoppage once they are ready. The referee may allow (at the referees discretion) a team to have a 30 second to 1 min break for treatment.
Zero_Cool
Roar Rookie
Totally happy for that to be the standard for time wasting, but the issue is it needs to be the standard for the whole game. It's really not good enough to come in at the 79th min and make a softer / more marginal decision than others throughout the match and indeed there were more egregiously slow kicks that were ignored. I would LOVE for that to be the standard, and if that's the standard going forwards, I welcome that, but it must be applied across the whole match not just the last moments. And let's be frank, if you look at any of Raynal's refereeing history you will see he will constantly surround himself with controversy, maybe it's fearless decision making, but it could be that he ... enjoys making the game about him. I've been a referee educator educated referees (in a different sport) and there are some referees who are driven by Ego who 'happen' to find themselves in these sorts of situations often also happen to be the types of referees who don't try to be at all moderate in their decisions, and that's not a great thing from a referee.
TiredOldGit
Roar Rookie
You mean like at the end of the last Lions game when Romain said “we have a deal” and Kieran Reid started reading him the rule book? You’re reaching hard to justify this once in a blue moon call and you’re trying to insult people so I guess you’re the classic salt emoji fan. You have no interest in competition just need the win for your self-esteem and even though I bet I could find a litany of contradiction in your banter over the years, the one thing that is consistent is your team is either the best and the ref is right if they win and the ref is wrong if you’re team loses. This call was bad. The final lions game call was bad. Jouberts call to give the wallabies the win against Scotland at the 2015 world cup was bad. Players shouldn’t have to take the ref our of the game. Saying such a thing just adds weight that they are subjective rulings and bias is rife. That’s not sport. I guess rugby has evolved this way because of technology and the fans who have celebrated it just happen to be the ones that always get the rub of the green. Must be awesome to type those salt emojis from an anonymous account on twitter while the game dies.
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
Up until now I always thought that part of a good game plan was to take the ref out of the equation. Or perhaps it's simply more in the spirit of the game to whine incessantly ?
ntn001
Roar Rookie
So why mention Argentina and South Africa. You are a joker if you seriously expect anyone to believe you.
ntn001
Roar Rookie
I was getting more than a little angered by this "article" until I read the name of the author "Joker In The Pack". It was then I realised it was satire. Otherwise, how could someone say "it was the right decision, taken at a time when its impact would be really felt" and actually mean it? Twice in this match alone the ABs took longer than the allowable time to kick conversions. The right decision would have been to cancel the conversion attempt. The impact of an earlier decision would have been keenly felt for the remainder of the game: The players would know the ref meant business and would result in less time wasting. Yet, on reading the "article" one would think the Wallabies were pulling back on the reins of the galloping ABs who only wanted to race on and give the crowd their money's worth. Nasty Aussies. "Time wasting has become an art-form" and "high time that some referee made a statement"? This is a game where the rules are determined and set by the home-nations-dominated World Rugby, where League and AFL are not serious competitors to audiences and participants. The adherence to complicated, pedantic and punitive adjudication doesn't rest with the players. In fact, the antipodean teams want faster flowing action, less stop-start matches. It is one of the reasons they're losing the hearts and minds of the rugby-code viewing public. The time for referees to make a statement is when the laws are being proposed in Dublin (or early in a match). The "journalist's" supporting evidence included disrespectful speech, throwing the ball away, laughing in the ref's face (?). I am aware these are not positive actions by the players involved, but I'm not sure how any of it slows the game. Perhaps the "journalist" can enlighten us. In an "article" about slowing down play, "Foley quickly converted the try without waiting for the TMO to say anything" should be praised. Shouldn't it? Wallabies developed "injuries" which seemed to disappear. A tactic rather than a legitimate physical problem. I'd be very interested in knowing the facts the "journalist" relied to determine these were not injuries has the joker intimated. All in all, 2/10 for journalism, 7/10 for satire.
ArmageddonPendi
Guest
Those who aren't happy with the refs last call now know how Izzy felt. I hope you all get your 10 million bucks !!!
joker_in_the_pack
Roar Rookie
When the All Blacks won back the Bledisloe Cup in 2003, they defeated Australia 50-21 in Sydney. In Auckland, they won 21-17. So much for home advantage.
joker_in_the_pack
Roar Rookie
This season, I have only seen one ref - Jaco Peyper - who does not hold what amounts to a conference before making a call. The rest always confer with the other three match officials before making anything even remotely contentious.
joker_in_the_pack
Roar Rookie
For a third time, let me say that I watched the game a second time to try and understand where Mathieu Raynal's annoyance was coming from. And I found numerous instances when he was treated with something less than respect by the Wallabies, all of which I have mentioned. The time-wasting by the Kiwis was of no relevance to the final incident, hence there was no need to mention them.
BlouBul
Roar Rookie
The 4 water breaks had nothing to do with the Boks. They didn't ask for it.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
But that’s it, he HAD called time off already. He had given Foley more than enough chances and several warnings during the game. Foley was just supremely arrogant thinking he was untouchable and Raynal didn’t have the balls to do anything about it. His teams mates knew something was up, so it’s a reasonable assumption to say Foley should have too. If the game only had this call, I’d feel you all would have something to moan about. But given you should never have been that close, given the red card that wasn’t and the forward pass that wasn’t able to be ruled on because of Foley. in affect cheating. It just seems so cherry picked. That’s why I’m so annoyed about the reaction and moaning. A lot of the noise is not because it happened, but because it happened to them.
David Bowers
Guest
Article overlooks numerous time wasting incidents by kiwis. Mounga took longer than allowable 90 seconds to kick 2 penalties. I would love it if world rugby publicised a crackdown on time wasting and fake injuries- just don’t leave it to an attention seeking /power hungry frog ref in the 79th minute of a crucial test with a decision that would be likely to change the result. Do it in the first ten minutes, and keep doing it. And communicate your intention to reverse a penalty.
U
Roar Rookie
Maybe the player who now looks like a fool should’ve paid more attention to what the ref had to say.
U
Roar Rookie
Foley was closer than any of them when he was told multiple times to play on. Watch the video
U
Roar Rookie
Watch the video genius. Foley knew what he was doing. Even his teammates knew it who were further away