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Ref Watch: Andrew Brace not at fault, England were

Andrew Brace /(Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

In a new feature, former referee Paul Smith looks at the refereeing performances of officials during each Six Nations match. Welcome to ‘Ref Watch’. 

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England v Scotland (Andrew Brace – Ireland)
When preparing to take charge of the Calcutta Cup Andrew Brace would have been aware that England spent 2020 giving away reams of needless penalties and that getting his key messages across to a side which seems intent on pushing every available disciplinary envelope might be a challenge.

He would also have known that forecast wet weather and a Scotland side that finished last year’s competition strongly would make for a tight, competitive contest in which accuracy in the award of kickable penalties would be especially vital.

Video Spacer

Itoje reacts to England’s shock loss:

Video Spacer

Itoje reacts to England’s shock loss:

In the event both these likelihoods became reality and despite what social media appears to have determined the Irish official can look back on a job well done.

Referees at every level ask themselves one big question on their journey home – would the outcome have been the same without my decision-making… or put another way did the better side win? With their superiority at the scrum, lineout and breakdown and their outstanding defence Scotland were unquestionably deserving winners irrespective of their concession of under 30 per cent of awarded penalties.

Quarter 1Quarter 2Quarter 3Quarter 4
Pens against England73 (YC)41
Pens against Scotland13 (YC)20

 

What worked and what didn’t?
The reducing by-quarter penalty trend is a big tick in Brace’s post-match review since it suggests his approach worked across the 80 minutes, while quarter four shows the players found it entirely possible to operate within parameters he set.

His interaction with TMO Joy Neville was generally good, and especially so in the sin-binning of Finn Russell. Brace’s positioning and the speed of Ben Youngs’ sidestep meant the off-balance fly half’s instinctive trip on the England No.9 went unspotted in real-time. Once Neville drew his attention to it a yellow card was an appropriate outcome.

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Ref watch
Finn Russell was binned for a trip /PA

The scrum – where Scotland mostly had the upper hand – was a problem area throughout and when Brace looks back at the match he will ask himself what (if anything) he could have done differently. Only three of the ten scrums completed and in addition to four penalty and three free kick awards four setpieces were reset.

Talking Points
Everyone who has refereed for a reasonable period of time has one or two teams they consistently find difficulty with and others with whom everything always just seems to work.

Often this is a simple matter of finding the wavelength at which everyone is able to harmoniously operate. The players and coaches need to understand what the official wants while he/she seeks to get to grips with what they are trying to achieve.

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A lot of this boils down to communication, then to whether those involved are willing to listen, process information and respond (or alternatively if their leaders are strong and smart enough to swiftly bring non-listeners and slow learners into line).

Based on their repeated concession of huge numbers of penalties, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that England are from a refereeing perspective one of these frustratingly difficult teams. They play too close to the edge too much of the time, and the fact that multiple different officials from Northern and Southern Hemispheres keep penalising the same things suggests the problem lies within the team’s coaching and leadership.

France have recently worked with now-retired 2019 World Cup final referee Jerome Garces in an attempt to improve their discipline, and if Eddie Jones is yet to pick up the phone to a similarly well-qualified figure he is missing a trick.

Jerome Garces gestures
Referee Jerome Garces gestures during the World Cup Pool B game between New Zealand and South Africa in Yokohama (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

When Brace reviews his performance he will see England conceded nine penalties in the opening 23 minutes (actually ten since Billy Vunipola’s sin-binning for a high tackle came when advantage was being played from the Saracens’ No.8’s earlier offside).

Since England conceded only six further penalties in the remaining 57 minutes Brace may conclude that his team warning and subsequent sanction came a few penalties too late. Let’s hope England conclude they need to do something about their discipline rather than again hiding behind a slightly disingenuous “we got on the wrong side of the referee.”

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David Campese names his Springbok world player of the year winner

Why is Joe Schmidt the best option for Australia? (LONG READ)


An essay for @OJohn with love from South Africa.


OJohn keeps banging on about kiwis and Saffers and everyone else seeking to undermine and bring down Australian rugby… Blah, Blah, Blah. It’s boring and not worth responding too 99 days out of 100.


He misses the point completely that Australians either are or are not the masters of their own destiny. So to blame anyone else but themselves for what the state of Australian rugby is in - is hypocritical.


But recently, Australia has shown signs of life. Personally, I always believed they would be back at some point. At the beginning of this year I predicted that the wallabies would bounce back this year. I predicted that they would overtake England in the world rankings. I am predicting that they could finish second in the RC, could win the Lions series and could make it to a RWC final at home.


I tend to get ahead of myself when I’m excited... Ask my wife. But forgive me for getting excited about the Wallabies looking good! Is it so bad?


Like OJohn, I believe that Australia’s lands abound with natures gifts, including athletic specimens across any sporting code the Aussies compete in. It’s one of the reasons most of us don’t like Aussies. They win sh1t. Regularly. And look smug when they do...


But back to OJohn. And his banging on about the need for Australia to have an Australian coach. Here are a few highlights of his argument:


Several times I've given a list of half a dozen Australian coaches who would be more Australian than Schmidt and just as successful.

Tell me which Australian coaches would be acceptable to coach the All Blacks ......?

Because South Africans and Kiwis and Welshmen and Scotsman are all s.... scared that if an immensely talented and athletic team like Australia is ever able to harness nationalistic Australian passion with an Australian coach, you'll all be s.c.r.e.w.e.d.


And then finally – the list of 6:


Ewen McKenzie, Less Kiss, Stephen Larkham, Jim McKay, David Nucifora, Scott Wisenthal, Ben Mowen, Rod Kafer, Mick Byrne, John Manetti, Jason Gilmore, Dan McKellar.

Plus, a special request:


Keep in mind Rod MacQueen never won a Super Rugby title before he was appointed Wallaby coach but he ended up the greatest rugby coach the world has ever seen. Better than Erasmus even. Who is probably the next best.

Right. I don’t care about the tinfoil hat theories. I want to assess OJohn’s list and determine whether any of them fit the mold of a Rod Macqueen.

 

Like Rod Macqueen the following world cup winning coaches never won a Super Rugby Title:


·       David Kirk, 1987 (17 appearances for New Zealand)

·       Kitch Kristie, 1995

·       Rod Macqueen, 1999

·       Clive Woodward, 2003 (21 Appearance for England)

·       Jake White, 2007 (School Teacher)

·       Graham Henry, 2011 (School Teacher)

·       Steve Hansen, 2015 (Policeman)

·       Rassie Erasmus, 2019 (36 Appearances for South Africa)

·       Jacques Nienaber, 2023 (Physiotherapist).


I couldn't find out what Rod or Kitch did other than coach.


The only coach who has won a Super title and a World Cup?

·       Bob Dwyer, 1991 (A Tahs man wouldn’t you know!)


In fact coaches that have won super rugby titles have not won world cups. Robbie Deans. Heyneke Meyer to name just two.


I know I’m being childish, but I needed to bring this list in somehow because it’s quite obvious that whatever these coaches did before they became international level coaches is largely immaterial. Or is it?


Interestingly Ewan McKenzie (A Tah Man!) has won a Super title. And despite being a Tah Man made it into OJohn’s list. That’s two strikes for Ewan Mckenzie based on OJohn’s criteria so far. Not to mention his 50% win rate as head coach of the Wallabies between 2013 and 2014 (and the laundry list of off the field fcuk ups that swirled around the team at the time).


So Ewan is out.


I find it interesting that, as we speak, eight out of the ten top ranked men’s teams are coached by former international players:

1.      South Africa, Rassie Erasmus (36 appearances for South Africa)

2.      Ireland, Andy Farrell (8 appearances for England)

3.      New Zealand, Scott Robertson (23 appearances for New Zealan)

4.      France, Fabien Galthie (64 appearances for France)

5.      Argentina, Felipe Contemponi (87 appearances for Argentina)

6.      Scotland, Gregor Townsend (82 appearances for Scotland)

7.      England, Steve Borthwick (57 appearances for England)

8.      Australia, Joe Schmidt (School Teacher)

9.      Fiji, Michael Byrne (Aussie Rules Player)

10.  Italy, Gonzalo Quesada (38 appearances for Argentina).


It would appear as though we have entered an era where successful international coaches, largely, have played rugby at international level in the professional era. Or are ex school teachers. Much like Jake White and Graham Henry! Or a policeman.

 

Back to OJohn’s List. That leaves us with:


·       Less Kiss, (I like the look of)

·       Stephen Larkham, (I like the look of)

·       Jim McKay, (Very little to write home about)

·       David Nucifora, (Too old)

·       Scott Wisenthal, (I literally can’t find anything on him on the Google).

·       Ben Mowen, (Too young, no coaching experience)

·       Rod Kafer, (No coaching experience)

·       Mick Byrne, (He’s coaching the Fijians, Aussie rules!)

·       John Manetti, (Can’t find him on the google)

·       Jason Gilmore, (Seems to be working through the ranks, coaching Wallabies A)

·       Dan McKellar, (Not much to write home about, but could be an option).


Applying some logic, I would say the following are viable options based on age, experience in coaching AND the fact that they have played rugby for Australia in the professional era:

·       Less Kiss, (I like the look of)

·       Stephen Larkham, (I like the look of)

·       Jason Gilmore, (Seems to be working through the ranks, coaching Wallabies A)


After having done all this research, I think it’s fair to say that none of these three have the same pedigree as Joe Schmidt, the teacher. Who took a sh1tty Ireland team to no.1. Won a few 6 Nations and helped get the All Blacks to a world cup final in 2023.


Joe’s the best option for now. But if Kiss, Larkham and Gilmore are the business for the future for Australia get them in now as assistants to Joe and stop moaning!!


Errors and Ommissions accepted. Mispelling of names is OJohn's fault.

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