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'It's frightening that the same official is doing England v Wales'

(Photo by Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto)

Scottish referee Mike Adamson ignited a social media inferno over his controversial handling of Friday night’s Heineken Champions Cup match between Harlequins and Castres, fuelling fears that he could be found wanting when he referees next month’s Guinness Six Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham on February 26.

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Castres lost out 36-33 at The Stoop, Alex Dombrandt’s try with the clock heavily in the red proving decisive in clinching the Gallagher Premiership champions the win that saw them finish second in Pool B of the Champions Cup and eliminate their French visitors in the process.

Adamson initially gave an on-field decision of ‘no try’ but he eventually awarded the score even though the video evidence that was reviewed wasn’t one hundred per cent conclusive that a try had definitely been scored. 

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    Rob Kearney and Alfie Barbeary – A Lion and a Wasp

    The review, though, wouldn’t have been necessary if the referee hadn’t made some glaring errors in the preceding minutes during the build-up, such as incorrectly awarding a penalty against Castres when they appeared to have won a legitimate breakdown turnover while there were other incidents such as a forward pass getting missed.   

    It capped an unconvincing performance that was heavily criticised on Twitter and led to accusations that Adamson – whose red-carding of Munster’s Simon Zebo in another match earlier this month was deemed to be incorrect and subsequently overturned by a disciplinary hearing committee – will be out of his depth next month refereeing at Test level.  

    It was last year when the official took charge of England’s win over Italy, an appointment that was the first time since 2002 that a referee from Scotland had taken charge of a Six Nations match. Adamson is now one of only two referees – the other is South Africa’s Jaco Peyper – who have been given two games to referee in the 2022 Six Nations, the Scot taking charge of England versus Wales in London 20 days after starting with France versus Italy in Paris on February 6.  

    After what unfolded at Harlequins, though, there are questions surrounding the capabilities of the ex-Scotland 7s player on the whistle. Stephen Jones, The Sunday Times rugby correspondent, tweeted: “Referee for Quins v Castres was alarmingly poor, Castres may as well not have bothered coming. 

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    “It is frightening that the same official, Mike Adamson, is doing England v Wales. AND France v Italy. How can that be when Wayne Barnes only has one game?”

    Ex-England out-half Andy Goode posted: “Got to feel for Castres, some horrific decisions have gone against them there”, a take on the refereeing performance that drew a response from Eddie O’Sullivan, the former Ireland coach.

    “Keep in mind the shocking forward pass in the lead up to the 1st Pen. People wonder why coaches get so upset with referees. Most frustrating part is there are zero consequences for Mike Adamson. He is promoted to the 6 Nations despite his performance.”

    https://twitter.com/AmericasOval/status/1484667721828769794

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    4 Comments
    E
    Euan 1117 days ago

    That's what they do. A ref shows he is lousy, then they keep giving him games so they can show who is boss.

    C
    CRZ38L 1192 days ago

    Just ask Dave Rennie and the Wallabies, they already know that Adamson is not up to the job.

    M
    Michael 1192 days ago

    Is the fact that we do not have enough good refs that there are so many from the southern hemisphere doing the 6 nations mathes In 1 week it is all southern

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    Eliza Galloway 52 minutes ago
    Geoff Parling: An Englishman roasting the Lions?

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    44 Go to comments
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    JW 1 hour ago
    James O'Connor, the Lions and the great club v country conundrum

    Lol you need to shoot your editor for that headline, even I near skipped the article.


    France simply need to go to a league format for the Brennus, that will shave two weekends of pointless knockout rugby from their season and raise the competitions standards and mystique no end.


    The under age loophole is also a easy door to shut, just remove the lower age limit. WR simply never envisioned a day were teams would target people under the age of 17 or whatever it is now, but much like with Rassie and his use of subs bench, that day was obviously always going to come. I can’t remember how football does it, I think it’s the other way around with them, you can’t sign anyone younger than that but unions can’t stop 17 or 18 yo’s from leaving for a pro club if they want to. There is a transaction that takes place of a few hundred thousand for a normal average player. I’d prefer rugby to be stricter and just keep the union bodies signoff being required.


    What really was their problem with Kite and co leaving though? Do we really need a game dominated by Internationals? I even think WR’s proposed calendar might be a bit too much, with at minimum 12 top tier games being played in the World Championship. I think 10 to 12, maybe any one player playing 10 of those 12 is the best way to think of it, for every international team is max, so that they can allow their domestic comps to shine if they want, and other nations like Japan and Fiji can, even some of the home nations maybe, and fill out their calendar with extra tours if they like them as a way to make money. As it is RA don’t have as good a pathway system, so they could simply buy back those players if they turn good. Are they worried they’ll be less likely to? We wait for baited breath for the new season to be laid out in front of us by WR.

    It could impose sanctions on the Fédération Française de Rugby, but the body which runs the Top 14 and the ProD2, the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, is entirely independent.

    It’s not independent at all. The LNR is a body under, and commissioned by, the FFR (and Government control) to mediate the clubs. FFR can simply install a new club competition if they don’t listen, then you’d see whether the players want to stay at any club who doesn’t tow the line and move to the new competition, as they obviously wouldn’t fall under the auspice of world rugby. They would be rebels, which is fine in and upon itself, but they would isolate themselves from the rest of the game and would need to be OK with that. I have no doubt whatsoever that clubs would have to and want to fall in line to remain part of the EPCR and French rugby. Probably even the last thing they would want is to compete with another French domestic competition that has all the advantages they don’t.


    All those players would do good for a few seasons in France, especially the fringe ones, with thankfully zero risk of them being poached if they turn good. New Zealand had a turn at keeping all of it’s talent, and while it upticked the competitiveness of the Super Rugby teams into a total dominance of Australian and South African counterparts (who were suffering more heavily than most the other way at that stage), it didn’t have as positive an effect on the next step up as ensuring young talents development is not hindered does. Essentially NZR flooded the locate market with players but inevitably it didn’t think the local economy could sustain any more pro teams itself, so now we are seeing a normal amount of exodus for the availability of places again. Are Australia in exactly the same footing? I think so, finances where dicey for a while perhaps but I doubt they are putting money constraints on their contracting now. It’s purely about who leaves to open up opportunity.

    62 Go to comments
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