Ex-Irish ref boss: Springboks ‘pummelling’ of Ireland proves World Rugby needs to ‘urgently’ fix the game
Springboks Damian de Allende and Thomas du Toit during the match between Ireland and South Africa.
The game needs urgent fixing, and if the Springboks’ victory over Ireland doesn’t convince World Rugby of that, nothing will.
That is according to the former director of referees at the Irish Rugby Football Union, Owen Doyle, who bemoaned the impact of the scrum on the fixture at the Aviva Stadium.
South Africa emerged as 24-13 victors on Saturday, sealing their first win in Dublin since 2012. The scoreline didn’t accurately reflect the Springboks‘ domination of the match as they continuously turned down shots at goal, lineouts and quick taps in favour of scrums.
Rule of thumb
Ireland’s defence on the night was also heroic, but Doyle feels as though the spectators were ‘shortchanged’ as the Springboks ‘were on a mission to beat up Ireland at the scrum.’
He also believes that referee Matthew Carley rewarded the visitors too frequently at the set-piece and didn’t pay close enough attention to why South Africa were so dominant in the scrum.
“It will take some time to get over this pummelling,” Doyle wrote in his Irish Times column.
“However, as a rule of thumb, it’s unwise for a referee to concentrate solely on the actions of just one front row. The Irish coaches will look closely at the angles of (Malcolm) Marx and his tighthead prop Thomas du Toit. Carley should have given them some attention as it’s an impossibility that they were squeaky clean throughout.”
World Rugby have actively pushed to limit the scrum’s influence on matches, notably removing the option for the set-piece from free-kicks and implementing a shot clock to speed up the game.
However, those changes did not work on Saturday as the first half took almost an hour to complete, with the second half also labouring on.
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Doyle has offered up other solutions to aid in speeding the game up. “South Africa succeeded in their mission, but if this match does not convince World Rugby that the sport needs urgent fixing, then nothing will,” he wrote.
“Leaving things as they are, just finding ways of reducing the number of scrums in the hope that all will be well, is proving to be a mistake.
“There are potential solutions, such as limiting the distance a scrum can advance and requiring the ball to come out once it reaches the number eight’s feet. And, of course, getting the props to support their own body weight.
“When Finlay Bealham joined the fray, his feet were so far behind him that the moment scrum pressure came on, he pancaked flat to the floor. There’s little doubt that Andrew Porter is a marked man, but he is still inclined to turn inward, or to set up incorrectly.”
Springboks are hard to like
The former referee was left disappointed by the manner in which the Boks went about winning the match, particularly after they played an expansive game to beat the All Blacks in Wellington earlier this year.
“The sad thing about this display was that we’ve recently watched the Springboks playing some great rugby, combining dominance up front with very swanky back play,” he added.
“The performance against New Zealand recently was breathtaking, but they really shortchanged us on Saturday. Yes, they’re the best team in the world, but they’re bloody hard to like and that’s a shame. Hand on heart, it’s hard to blame Carley for the defeat.”
