Proving today’s refereeing and officialdom is pedantic, making games unwatchable, is as simple as reflecting on the fifty years since the magnificent 1973 Barbarians versus All Blacks match.
We still discuss the game and “the try”, whereas the 2023 Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and South Africa will be forgotten about in the future if it has not been already.
We know errors happened in the refereeing of the Barbarians match but that is not the point. Whether the referees were aware of player error and allowed the match to flow or because he was the only official on the park, mistakes were made. Point being – one game was allowed to flow.
Can you imagine the joy a TMO (Television Match Official) would have got from overseeing the ’73 game? They would have been in bureaucracy heaven. Many people enjoy the strict autocratic regulatory society we live in today and accept why the 1973 match and “the try” would not be part of our rugby union history today if it were refereed under current rules.
The players from both sides long ago wrote themselves into rugby folklore with their roles in a classic rugby match from that era. But the referee whose name would be a great question in sports trivia played a leading role as well.
His name was Georges Domercq, who passed away in 2020 aged eighty-nine. The story goes he was welcomed by supporters in France on his return home from the match, which would not happen today. Domercq’s attitude made for a flowing encounter.
Barbarians matches are known for their free flowing style, but shouldn’t a referee’s responsibility be to allow the players the freedom to express themselves in all formats of the game, whether it be a club match or a RWC final? In the 1973 match it was not all helter-skelter rugby. According to the Guardian, there were more scrums and lineouts than a 2022 Six Nations match.
As for one of the greatest tries ever scored, what would have happened to it under today’s strict rules?
From the early lineout throw by John Pullin there was some pushing and shoving in the lineout, but as they were bunched up line-ups in those days we will let that go.
All Black hooker Ron Urlich made a head high tackle on JPR Williams after JPR fielded a kick from Sid Going. No doubt Urlich would have been given a yellow card, which would have been upgraded to a red card and he would have been sent off.
In the next passage of play JPR is once again the victim of a head high tackle, this time from the great Bryan “Beegee” Williams. Sorry Beegee, but you would have had the referee ominously reaching into his pocket for a yellow card in 2024. I cannot believe I just wrote 2024, were we not supposed to be a more advanced society now?
John Dawes is meant to have presented a “great dummy” according to the legend of rugby commentators, Cliff Morgan in the next play. But it is difficult to see it with the camera shooting from the ground level. We will take your word for it Cliff.
The pass from flanker Tom David to number eight Derek Quinnell is often viewed by fans as being forward, but referee Domercq was close to the action and has stated it was not forward. In the footage you can see where the ref is and he is just out of line, so it could well have been forward.
Those with technical ability have analysed the pass to confirm the ref’s opinion. But the TMO would have injected themselves into our lives by recalling the pass after the try was scored and view it a hundred times before making his decision, pushing us to sit on the couch with pent up frustration!
The pass from Quinnell to Gareth Edwards appears to be more forward than the David pass, as Edwards ‘intercepts’ the pass intended for John Bevan. Once again, the TMO would have desired to justify his pay and interrupted the try celebration to bore us with incessant replays.
New Zealand rugby legend Ian Kirkpatrick is tackled as he drives forward against the Barbarians. (Photo by S&G/PA Images via Getty Images)
My point with this is not to denigrate the try, but to compare the attitudes and actions taken by the characters who featured in the 1973 classic to today’s interpretation of the rules.
“Looking back, we could not believe how many times it could have gone wrong. But there was no TMO and it was allowed to flow.” Gareth Edwards responded to the Guardian. “Allowed to flow,” that is the key. No wonder 1000 guests gathered in Newport, Wales in 2023 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the match.
Free up rugby for its own sake, or it will slowly disappear.
The superb commentator Cliff Morgan can have the last say in this, “If the greatest writer of the written word would’ve written that story no one would have believed it.”
My thanks to Roar member Sheek for providing the inspiration for this article.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
Hey Pete! Haven't seen you on the cricket pages recently
Blink
Roar Rookie
Well NRL in Vegas scored 60K viewers, the college basketball game beforehand had 182K viewers. The figures would be bad here but totally off the radar there with 12 x the population. It doesn't really matter. They all had a good time at someone elses expense and plan to keep doing it for as long as they can afford to. Only in Sydney, Brisbane, PNG (maybe Tonga, Samoa) do the best players play league.
scrum
Roar Rookie
Try reading the post without being precious. Most countries would be the same, it just shows no matter what protocols are used fans only care about how their team is affected.
Cam Watts
Roar Rookie
Did a Kiwi steal your girlfriend scrum??? :silly:
Pickett
Roar Rookie
To be honest, I reckon the '82 baby Wallabies try against the All Blacks was considerably better - crispier passing with no forward pass doubts. Maybe I'm biased. The AB's try against the Wallabies scored by Kirwan? in the 90's? was much better as well. (It was in Australia and it was length of the field) I actually think this Barbarians try is over rated.
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
back in the day ...when was that 1823?
Cugel
Roar Rookie
When I used to watch all sports back in the day, the primary attraction of union was the hilariously bad refereeing; blatant forward passes, huge knock ons, bounced ball tries, all blithely ignored. Watching the feeble tackling, and backs deliberately running away from making tackles also amusing.
scrum
Roar Rookie
After the game went professional over time there was much more scrutiny on Refs decisions especially with the improvement in broadcast technology. A lot more analysis on decisions and then the fans and coaches demanding “ the correct decisions”. So the TMO was introduced. People say they want less TMO until their team is adversely affected and then “ why aren’t they using the technology “. It becomes a revolving circus. We are not as bad as the NRL in ref bashing but in recent times Rugby has gone downhill with the attitudes and anger towards Refs, witness the death threats and verbal abuse on the increase. To reduce the TMO involvement requires acceptance that Refs will make errors, it’s impossible to get every decision correct. But that horse has long bolted. People got what they asked for.
sheek
Roar Guru
Peter Darrow, Ah yes, "the almighty dollar", where a square peg can be smashed to fit into a round hole for the means to justify the ends!
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
Good post scrum. Just a thought, many Kiwis accepted the 73 match and try as being great rugby, also the try from "the end of the world" and the Bastille day loss in 78 were also praised and accepted. But with a more regulated society today and social media, have people today become greater whingers who are not so accepting of errors etc?
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
They're not very bright Sheek, too willing to accept what they see on TV and not think. They do whatever they are told to do. Sometimes you need to fight back which is what the farmers are doing in Europe, which most would not know a thing about. What does that have to do with sport? The enjoyment in sport has been overtaken by the almighty dollar and those who want to regulate the hell out of everything.
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
Yes, it was the unique abilities of the Baabaas players who created the try. Phil Bennett started it with those sidesteps , if it had been kicked to someone like a Grant Fox he would have kicked it into touch, sorry Foxy! Mind you the "end of the world" try in 78 is fondly remembered.
AndyS
Roar Rookie
Partly the money, and partly the fact it was just the Baabaas. If that had been the final play of the '87 RWC that had given France the win, I wonder if it would still be considered the greatest...?
scrum
Roar Rookie
Correct officiating , the use of TMOs was actually driven by the media, coaches and fans. Television replays showed officiating errors and all and sundry demanded better, use the technology. Basically we got what we demanded but now it’s all somebody else’s fault. Let’s go the RWC final. A try disallowed as the TMO detected a knock on more than 2 phases back. The Kiwis cried foul even though it was the correct decision in Law. But reverse the situation, if the Bok had scored in identical fashion and the Try allowed to stand the match officials would have been equally condemned by the majority of Kiwis. And most if not all nations/ fans would act like that so I am not singling out the Kiwis but using this as example of how it is impossible to satisfy. People support less TMO but it is really dependent on how their team is affected.
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
Good points woodart. Why else did the NRL go to Vegas?
woodart
Roar Rookie
big time sport is not sport now, its a business. with gambling as a partner. for those silly/wealthy/desparate enough to gamble on a sport with an oval ball, all decisions have to be verified. the rest of us have to suffer. go and watch club rugby and, its still not ruined/ over-officialled. the complete time taken makes for an interesting comparo, between a test and a club game. both two 40 minute halves, but with all the official dithering and tv replays, the test can get 20+ min longer.
sheek
Roar Guru
Peter Darrow, That try could be used to describe so many changes in society today where the benefit of the doubt has been removed, & the thought police have taken over. On the other hand, more people means more stupid people & I'm convinced most of humanity is super dumb! You want just one example. Look at all the crap that gets left behind on Mt Everest by the wannabe Hilarys. Those people who pay to climb the world's highest mountain, have more dollars than sense.
Khun Phil
Roar Rookie
Very good,Peter,as per your usual.The head high tackles are what got me straight away on re-watching.I have lost count of the number of times I have watched this try(you could never get tired of it!),but I think that's the first time I had noticed them.Probably because it's the first time I have looked at from a TMO perspective! What a tragedy if,after Edwards dived over the line,we heard that dreaded,"I think you need to have a look at this"!
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
Richard you are correct, my apologies to Bill and Cliff.
Peter Darrow
Roar Guru
Whereas the English were the opposite. Lots of rules and regs which the pedantic English loved?