A bit of psychology in how Refs respond to head contact. We humans can’t change or help what our subconscious biases are. Usually we don’t even have any insight to what they might be. So when there is head on head contact, it’s about then that the Ref and TMO team will express their subconscious bias. If they think one party is the bad guy/girl, they will tend to see in red and yellow. But if there subconscious bias is the other way – they will see mitigation and “no intent”. They can’t help it. That is why there will always be inconsistency.

Fossie is trying to get one more year from the veterans. Perenara the most obvious example, maybe Nepo as well. It’s hard to see where enough effort has gone into developing backup players in those key roles, halfback and hooker esp. Tighthead – yes Newell is an example, but to be fair that was forced on Fossie. It’s too late now, but that was one of Hansens secret formula, to give the youngsters plenty of game time when games were in the bag. Admittedly, it gets harder when games are not in the bag – but that is also a false economy, as fewer games will be in the bag because you have not developed the talent…..

Something that has happened for 2 seasons, to me it looks like the players have been told “we trust you, play to your instincts, you are awesome” but the words used are making the players do the opposite. Example one was Nepo Laulala trying to do a SBW offload in front of his posts vs Ireland, to – another prop! And Perenara’s little over-the-top kick in minute 78 from just outside our 22 was another. Even allowing for a trigger happy ref, if we kept close to the touchline doing pick and go – unlikely that a penalty woud have got England anywhere near our 5m line. If players are genuinely going to do well on instinct, that comes from the subconscious, it does not come from “trying to do something” thinking. You can’t force your subconscious. I think this is a flaw in Fosters understanding of communications, which is a science.

Think back to how many tests we won with McCaw in the last 10 minutes. Those came from his leadership by personal example – a laser-intensity right to the end, and that intensity gave birth do good instinctual play whilst also maintaining a system. OK – fair enough McCaw was a once in 50 years player, but I think the lesson can be taught.

You do need some awareness of the scoreboard, and manage the game accordingly, but when the whole team begins to try to “ice the game” 30 minutes out, intensity will drop. Should be 2 or max 3 players calling things and everyone else just does their job at as high an intensity as they can.

I think we did look tired in the last 10, we did a lot of counter-rucking where England just stayed static in the ruck and we used a heap of energy pushing and shoving. Was that a yellow to BB? Seemed to me he slid on to the player then released as he stood up and went for the ball?

The positives – the tight 5 and loosies did their job.
The negatives – dumb mistakes and lack of intensity at key moments. Is it the digital generation watching the scoreboard and starting to think about what they will post?

For everyone whinging about “first time time wasting has been called”.

Has there ever been a delay as long? Especially when the ref and your teammates are telling you to kick it? The short-arm was called for the first time, as a consequence of the first time a kicker has ignored the ref for so long in that situation.

Action – consequence.

Thats easy, Lions v ABs in 2017, 3 mins to go in the series, obvious and clear accidental offside by Lions hooker, shoo in 3 points for the series win to AB’s. But the french officials found a way to make it a free kick. Only time that has ever happened as well.

How about the 2nd test of the same series when Sinckler jumped up to take a high pass as he was being tacked by Faumuina around the knees. Penalty to Lions to win the test. For what? Never seen before or since.

It happens……

the AB’s got penalised a couple of times recently for that, where someone reaches in and lifts a leg of the player in a maul. Don’t know if it’s a new rule, but used to be done all the time. Not any more. Mind you, Gordon only really thought about it and didn’t even cause anything. I guess the rule was applied very strictly, it was pretty innocuous.

But yeah, unusual for the halfback to be unknown to the ref……

Nah he had realised that he should have penalised Australia, not NZ at the previous stoppage, for playing the ball on the ground.

Nice article. Sums up the to and fro of this stuff, and points out that every side will win some and every side will lose some like this, as Kenny Rogers said – every hands a winner and every hands a loser. Swap “ruck” for “hand”. It hurts when it happens and feels like your side has been unfairly singled out. But it evens out.

Will White get cited for his conduct after the whistle? I reckon he should, this is not soccer, as another famous ref once said. If you are allowed to do that – what next?

Anyone else think the early scrum rulings were a bit bizarre? The Wallabies were under pressure and were screwing it around hard out, but they got 2 penalties given on AB ball for it? One was understandable to a degree as Groots knees did hit dirt, but only because he was pulled around so quick as Oz wheeled it.

Feel bad for Foley, as in most other games he would have got away with that. But hopefully it is a sign of IRD cracking down on time wasting.

Swain – deliberate and will get a long suspension. Should have been red.

Kellaway try was a forward pass pretty clear, no wonder they raced the conversion, but where was the Ref? TMO was asking for it to be reviewed?

A good game nonetheless. It was not for the cup, for that you need to win twice, but it would have been good for it to have been alive next week.

The AB’s and every team at some stage have to suck up a ref error or judgement that is wierd and costs the game. Anyone remember RWC 2007 or Lions 2019? Both times big games decided unfairly by Ref error. But hey that’s how it goes. In the long run you will win some of those the same way – and maybe we did here.

But that was what Foley was relying upon, that the ref would do nothing despite all the warnings. It was good that the ref called his bluff. Remember the 2017 Lions series when the ref and touchies managed to find a way of not awarding the AB’s a penalty, from an accidental offside iin the 77th minute. That was for the series, but the refs didn’t want to “decide the game”. Why not? If there is a clear breach of the rules, then that is the refs job and if they don’t do it – then things like this will happen where players assume immunity in the last 5 minutes.

Why? On your logic, he should not have penalised the AB’s just before that he should have let play go an and then spoken to them about it next phase? How can “without delay” be interpreted any other way than after 4 warnings from the ref and about 10 by your own team mates?

It won’t ever happen 10 minutes into a game, because why would someone be trying to run the clock down after 10 minutes? Duh.

As Foster says – why no look at the forward pass for the Kellaway try? Maybe he was reflecting on the dodgy penalty he had just given the wallabies, which was arguable to say the least? Or maybe he was looking at Tupaea on the sideline in a knee brace?

Hopefully – IRB will do this consistently from now, and if I was the RSA coach I’d be having a chat to the boys quick smart…..

Of course a gutting call if you are an Ozzie fan. But it is telling when your own team is yelling at you to kick it, they clearly picked up that the ref had had enough and would blow it. And he did. 39 seconds is way way too long to take a free kick. Even the last 11 secs is too long. People who say they have never seen it before – well it happens a lot, usually line out throws, now and then scrum put ins. If it was in the 5th minute no-one would be saying anything, but it would never be in the 5th minute because no-one would bother delaying things for so long – unless they are trying to wind down the clock. And I’d say that refs have had the word from IRB to deal with time wasting – and although I thought it would be RSA who would pay the price as they waste 15 minutes per game – I’m guessing any team that does it will get the same outcome through to the RWC.

This is obscuring the really bad decision he made, which was yellow for Swain. That is red all day, and if there is any justice the citing commissioner will make that happen. A clear and deliberate intent to injure that has probably ended a players season. When is that not a red? Touch him on the head and its red, but break his leg and its yellow? Ozzie fans might not want to admit it – but that was awful and deserves to be dealt with.

Yep maybe Paulo, but isn’t that just further exasperation for fans, unless you are a QC able to follow the thread of interpretations? At a common sense level it is pretty hard to understand where the yellow/red thresholds are. We counted 17 direct to head contacts by both teams after the Ta’avao red card. If they were all reffed strictly, i.e. without Barnes-like interpretation, but more like Peypers rules based logic – there could have been 17 more cards, if everything was viewed in slo-mo. So clearly there is – and needs to be – some differentiation applied. Perhaps one criteria of interpretation would be – “is the “victim” player able to continue?” If not – then the threshold becomes red for the whole game. If yes – then 10 or 20 min penalty applies. I guess where would that start and stop….
This is why the NFL in USA trialed and then did away with TMO’s. It led to too much fan disenchantment.
Maybe the root cause is in fact the antiquated governance of the game

Interesting perspectives on the refereeing over the AB- Ireland series. As usual, it is hard for we humans not to bring in our own bias – conscious or unconscious – when viewing something that happens to – or is perpetrated by another team than our own. But I think we would all agree that it would be a great thing to have consistent refereeing across competitions, and if that is to big an ask – then at least across a test series? If something is red carded in test 1 or 2 – should that same interpretation not be used in subsequent tests? Maybe not if World Rugby said – “mistake” but if the penalty is endorsed by them, it doesn’t seem to much to ask?
For the last ten years or so it seems Refs are pretty keen not to be seen to decide matches and especially series. Maybe since that RWC game where the kiwi ref had shocker (and/or Pocock had a blinder) against SA. The most obvious example for an AB supporter being the last Lions test which I was at. A clear penalty for accidental offside, a penalty in all other tests before and since, but the Ref team found a way to reduce it to something else – to avoid deciding the series. Surely the Ref should blow things the same in minute 81 as minute 1? Barnes is a good ref – but he seemed pretty keen not to decide the series. Porter has been cited, but a bit late now. Remember O’Brien getting away with breaking Naholos jaw with a swinging arm in a maul in that same series, – without being cited? I realise that every team has things like that which can be brought up – I’m not saying the ABs are more hard done by than anyone else – only that consistency is missing, and it leads to all kind of conspiracy theories getting legs.
To be clear – the AB’s were outplayed by Ireland and deserved winners. We were actually lucky to only lose 2-1 perhaps. Probably the top 5 players of the series would have been Irish, maybe Ardie sneaks in there. As others here have said, either the coaches are keeping their powder dry for RWC23 – or have lost the plot. I suspect the latter. For me, pulling Cane after 64 mins was a low deed. The NZ rugby public are not stupid and unless there are stats showing Cane was done physically – then pulling him was pure deflection. Foster is by reputation a decent guy and good coach, but does not have the x-factor for mine. Every team aiming to excel needs a few individuals with x-factor and ideally at least 1 is the coach.
My main issue is that he is using the old “we learned things from defeat and will improve”. Problem being these defeats were very much like last years defeats, which were blamed on a long tour. Last year we similarly had no way of breaking the line and just used high risk side to side plays in the tough moments. We were unsure when and how to kick and that uncertainty led to poor execution.
I get the idea of having game breakers who are trusted to “play the picture in front of them” but there has to be some structure involved at that level. Can you imagine an NFL team in the USA “playing the picture”? No bloody way, they have learned that does not work against top level opponents, and that is why teams have high paid coaching teams.
I thought Australia played really well and some new players really put their hands up. They had more in attack than the AB’s. That is a good England side, Lawes was huge. Australia missed the rub of the green as well. Would Hill have been yellow carded if Swain had not retaliated? Should have been, as a minimum.

Or – if Socialists understood basic economics – they would not be Socialists….

I think the issue with Kerevi is the VR intervention, most tackles, especially close to the goal line – or front on 1 on 1 – would be able to find a penalty or worse. In real time, or when considering who should carry the can, tackler or tacklee, it gets interesting. As an AB supporter I feel Kerevi got a rough deal on that one, but I agree that the rules can be interpreted that way.

The Royal Navy were still having a good go at enforcing economic slavery well after WW2. Eventually it dawned on them that most people weren’t very keen on it, and to be fair they were enlightened relative to other Colonial powers. Don’t have to go too far back in most cultures to find things they probably don’t want to talk about too much. Caste systems, slavery and various other types of exploitation. Who was it that did heaps of torturing in the Inquisition?

Horan is a great, and I didn’t I didn’t know he was POT. The Horan Little combo vs Bunce Little in 1991 (?) was probably the best midfied battle I’ve ever seen, and the Ozzies won that one. I’m not saying Horan should be lower ranked, just that Kaino and Nonu should be way way higher than late twenties. Kaino played almost every minute of every game in 11 and 15 tournaments, and was huge in both. By many reckonings Nonu is best ever AB 2nd five, and Kaino certainly in top 3 6’s, if not 1st. It’s a personal view but if I was coaching a side picked from outside the top 23 on this list, I would be pretty chuffed/astonished to sign those two up.

Kaino and Nonu at 27 and 30? Horan was a great player but not in Nonus class, and Kaino would be one of the first picked. Nice format to this article though, and we all tend to rate “our” players higher than others we don’t see as much of.
IMO.

Nice article and analysis in comments. Interesting that the old chestnut of eligibility comes up. If someone has lived in a country since they were younger than say, 15, then should be no issue. But the Irish lock Toner has a right to be pretty gutted I reckon. Hopefully they will address this and toughen up eligibility rules.

As far as England go – they certainly have some strike power, and those set piece moves were pretty sharp. No doubt they will have kept a few more under wraps, but the blueprint looks pretty good. I think the cannier teams would not be that upset with England playing MT and JC, they would back themselves to use a good kicking game and starve them of front foot ball, – then their ability to turn and defend comes right into play, way more than ball carrying. But Englands pack will take a fair amount of subduing, albeit not sure they have the right mix on the ground, and the hot dry conditions won’t suit their rugby culture as much as it will others.

If Jones can keep things fresh (I thought the players would have well and truly tired of him by now) they are a strong chance.

It might depend on whether both sides show their full hands in terms of tactics. Since 2011 the AB’s have bee pretty cagey pre RWC, asking the team to not kick, or to kick in opposition half, different pod structures etc. The idea I guess is to try to simulate pressure by eliminating some options from the playbook. My feeling is that as this is Bledisloe, the AB’s will bring a few cards out. As far as the WB’s, they are developing a pretty handy pack, scrums will be interesting….
AB’s by 9

Yes, my weight has tracked the average weight of an All Black since 1984 when it was 88kg. I have lost a bit of ground recently, but until early 2018 I had kept up and was exactly in line with the average AB in 2018 at 108kg. Following a year of getting fit and not eating as much I’m now 99kg, so perhaps a portent of things to come in rugby….

Ah Funbus. You really are up the far left hand end of the bell curve on most things eh. Admittedly Kirky’s comments are just bait though. Sinckler will be good if can control himself, he’ll stay in the team, as the English have never had a “no dickheads” selection filter.

I hadn’t noticed before that when Stockdale scored his try, Kieran Read was down getting treatment. I think that was a fall in the lineout, that looked like it may have had an Irish hand in it, but thats not the point – the point is that had Read been on his feet, he would have been defending that channel. So either the Irish were brilliant it calling it when Read went down, or lucky. Either way – a bloody good try, won’t be the last test try Stockdale scores.

I think the issue with the mis-directing thing, is that the AB’s defence has relied upon guessing the direction of attack, and using the spare man to provide extra cover. Now other teams have cottoned on to that and have exploited it, we will need to re-think our defence pattern. It may have something to do with D-Mac’s inexperience at full back at test level. But more likely – we will need to rebuild our patterns.