England great ‘amazed’ by top refs reaction to ‘gamesmanship’ solution after Joe Schmidt accusation
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt and England boss Steve Borthwick.
Former England hooker Brian Moore believes he has a solution to stop potential ‘gamesmanship’, but that it has so far been rejected by the authorities.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash between England and the Wallabies at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, it was reported that the Red Rose had alerted referee Nika Amashukeli to regular breakdown illegalities by the tourists which were going unpunished.
This caused a certain amount of controversy before the encounter, despite conversations between officials and teams being common practice, with the leak giving some insight into what goes on.
Moore’s ref meeting
Moore knows this well having attended a meeting between the top 21 referees in Marcoussis, where he was made aware of the extent of the discussions.
“I learned the background to these meetings was an offer from referees to address what was claimed by coaches to be the disparities in the interpretation of laws between northern and southern hemisphere officials,” he wrote in his Telegraph column.
“I was told that it all began well, but had started to descend into meetings where the respective coaches had stopped asking generic questions.
“Instead, they were bringing along their laptops and showing what they claimed were clips of illegal tactics of their upcoming opponents. They were then, literally, saying: ‘What are you going to do about this?'”
Once there, Moore offered a “simple” solution to preventing that conduct, but the England great was shocked by the response.
“I was amazed that they were amazed by my simple suggestion they tell coaches that they would not allow laptops at the meetings and that they would not comment on specifically selected incidents, presented only from one point of view,” he wrote.
“I was further surprised when one very well-known referee said that, as a group, referees did not want to get on the wrong side of the coaches. I tried to make a point that I now repeat – this is what coaches and players do, if they are allowed to.”
Joe Schmidt accuses England of ‘gamesmanship’ while Steve Borthwick calls for ‘improvement’
Joe Schmidt’s accusation
Following the match on Saturday, which the hosts won comfortably 25-7, Joe Schmidt accused England of “gamesmanship”, although the Wallabies boss did not feel the officials had been influenced.
“I don’t blame Borthwick. If I thought I could get away with putting this sort of psychological pressure on the referee, I would. And herein lies the problem for World Rugby, and particularly its Elite Men’s Match Officials Manager, Joël Jutge,” Moore wrote.
“Is it good for rugby that we are discussing, pre and post international games, the perceived manipulation of officials?
“I have no doubt last Saturday’s referee, Nika Amashukeli, will say he was not influenced by what happened with Borthwick, but I also know that my first thought when he penalised Australia at the breakdown was that Borthwick’s ploy had worked.”
The former front-rower then concluded: “Over the course of a dozen games, virtually any coach could put together a showreel of questionable incidents involving any opponent, over almost any part of rugby’s lawbook. That is the strength and weakness of rugby; its ambiguities make it fascinating and frustrating by turns.
“Fortunately, rugby has managed to stay the right side of the line when it comes to respect for officials. It has no need to indulge any sort of gamesmanship that puts irrefutable pressure on referees.”