Ex-Irish ref boss: World Rugby trial gives ‘licence to assault’ and the ‘atrocious behaviour’ in the URC semi-final proved it
Hollie Davidson sends Ruan Ackermann's actions for a review and an inset of the incident.
Former international referee Owen Doyle has once again slammed World Rugby’s 20-minute red card trial following Ruan Ackermann’s action in the United Rugby Championship semi-final.
The Stormers forward came off the bench during the second half of the encounter, but his cameo lasted just eight minutes before he was sent to the sin-bin for an ugly clear-out attempt on Rónan Kelleher.
Referee Hollie Davidson called for a review of the challenge and opted to issue a yellow card and send for Ackermann’s actions to be reviewed by the Foul Play Review officer, who upgraded the decision to a 20-minute sending-off.
According to Doyle, the former head of Irish Rugby referees, he believes that the South African back-rower’s punishment did not fit the crime and reckons that it warranted a permanent sending-off.
Owen Doyle slams 20-minute red card
The 20-minute red card has been a hotly debated World Rugby law trial since its global introduction last year in May. The IRFU and French Rugby Union have publicly bashed the trial, the latter on multiple occasions, while the southern hemisphere nations have campaigned its adoption into the lawbook, with Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship being two of the first top-level tournaments to enforce it.
Doyle has largely sided with the former camp, particularly when it comes to acts of thuggery – though referees still maintain the ability to issue straight, permanent red cards for such actions – and he believes that Davidson should have reached for the red and not the yellow card during the clash at the Aviva Stadium.
“The match saw a horrible clearout of Rónan Kelleher by Ruan Ackermann,” he wrote in his Irish Times column.
“It was a hard shoulder at maximum force, directly to the hooker’s head. Davidson sent it for review. But the offence was screaming for a straight, permanent red card, delivered by the referee herself. It was of course upgraded to a 20-minute red, but justice was not done. If this extremely high level of danger is only yellow, then the game has a huge problem.
“For just an extra 10 minutes with 14 players, it is effectively a licence to assault. It also does nought for player welfare in terms of brain injury.”
He continued: “Those who support the 20-minute red for such atrocious behaviour need a serious rethink.
“The undertones in this encounter were confirmed at half-time by an unacceptable fracas in the tunnel. Just where is rugby going?”
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Hollie Davidson isn’t on the plane to the World Cup, yet
Overall, Doyle was highly critical of the Scottish referee’s performance in the semi-final, ruing her lack of control when it came to backchat from the players – something Tappe Henning, the head of United Rugby Championship officials, said would not be tolerated in the knockout stages.
Still, he believes that she could be in the mix to be one of the referees at the Rugby World Cup next year but cautioned that she has not secured her place on the plane yet as “there is work to be done.”
“Having awarded the Gibson-Park try, the officials decided to examine a potential offence by Salmaan Moerat in the preceding breakdown. It was a big call to judge that he had intentionally played the ball with his foot – definitely not in the clear-and-obvious category. The yellow card was harsh and unnecessary,” he wrote.
