If James Doleman, the New Zealand referee, and his crew had made even a small fraction of the number of errors the Lions managed, they would rightly have been run out of town.
Argentina had not played in more than six months, had players unavailable and had three new caps. Opposite them, on more or less home soil, were Andy Farrell’s men – the best of the best. Or so we thought. Instead they delivered a disappointing, disjointed performance.
Before the match we were treated to a video of Farrell addressing his troops. He was particularly keen to relate his phone call to Finlay Bealham, advising the Irish player of his elevation to the squad. I can only imagine that this is part of a documentary that will be released after the tour. Based on what we saw it won’t be in the running for an Oscar, but it might well be an unhelpful distraction.
There was little cutting edge to the Lion’s play until Ellis Genge broke free with a mighty run, which finished with Tadgh Beirne crashing over the try line. I thought that would ignite the Lions, but no. They fizzled, while Argentina sparked.
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Doleman did well and he’s not in any way responsible for the downfall of this particular pride of Lions. His award of a penalty try for a collapsed maul is a call not made often enough, the visiting prop Mayco Vivas was the culprit. As the tour continues it will be interesting to see whether this is now policy. It should be.
Doleman only gave five penalties against the Lions, whereas Argentina were pinged 12 times. These included four scrum penalties, which I had a couple of question marks about. That doesn’t make me right, it simply confirms that there is a hell of a lot of disagreement around scrum calls.
Doctors differ, patients die – the stakes are different for scrum refereeing but these debatable penalties have a massive bearing on the game. For all their law tinkering World Rugby seem content to let this quite ludicrous situation continue. The final of Super Rugby Pacific saw plenty of scrum penalties, with critical field positioning changing frequently as a result.
Specialist World Rugby groups have been formed to study this and that, but nothing on the scrum. It’s extraordinary. Perhaps the three wise monkeys are at play – see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
World Rugby, however, have been busy revising the disciplinary hearing procedures. Instead of having judicial hearings, red cards and citings will now be studied by a foul play review committee (FPRC). This will be done quickly after the match and the player will then be informed of the outcome, with the right of appeal. The rationale is to speed up the process, undoubtedly a good thing in itself. But will we see tougher, deterrent suspensions? I wouldn’t count on it.
There was talk recently of four-week automatic minimum suspensions, which would have been a real step in the right direction. However, on Saturday when England’s Immanuel Feyi-Waboso went close to beheading his French opponent, Antoine Hastoy, we saw what the future holds, and it ain’t good. The FPRC, on their very first mission, stated that the player’s actions “carried a high degree of danger”. So far, so good. But then the committee seemed to veer completely off-piste by determining that a staggeringly lenient two-week sentence would suffice. It includes a week off for attending tackling school, which, conveniently, has been kept open for business.
Minimal suspensions, allied to the dangerous idea of balancing safety with spectacle, simply do not stack up. Following this judgement we can undoubtedly expect more of the same. It is precisely what the game does not need.
Hollie Davidson’s decision not to give Feyi-Waboso a straight red card – it was upgraded on review – also shows us just how much things are changing. Obviously, something truly horrific will be required before that colour is ever to be produced by a referee.
There has also been speculation that it did not merit a straight red because it was a timing and technique failure by Feyi-Waboso. If flagrant, highly dangerous challenges are to be portrayed in that sort of excusatory language, it would be nothing more than a dishonourable pretence, a sham.
“They put their heads where you wouldn’t put a shovel,” were the words of Jack Conan crediting his players after he had done a really fine job captaining Leinster to URC victory. In one short sentence, no doubt unintentionally, Conan spoke to the dangers of sub-concussive knocks to the head. A game that requires players to put their heads where a shovel shouldn’t go might usefully be considered in serious need of urgent remedial attention.
World Rugby and member unions, including coaches, are the custodians of the game. In time, those who are currently involved will move on. They must strive to hand it over to those who come next in a better condition than it is now. There is much to do for that to happen.
Neither should anybody forget the very large elephant in the room. Last month saw the final date for players suffering from brain disease to join UK solicitors Ryland Garth’s lawsuit. It involves a long list of well-known former internationals and Lions players.
The number from rugby union involved is about 750. That’s the equivalent of more than 30 match day squads. There are also at least two women, former Welsh internationals Nic Evans and Jamie Kift. Early on-set dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) know no boundaries. It is both frightening and tragic.
