Nigel Owens: All Blacks deserved sin binnings for ‘very cynical’ acts
Former referee Nigel Owens and an inset of All Blacks full-back Will Jordan's yellow card against Argentina.
Nigel Owens says that Will Jordan knew exactly what he was doing when he impeded Argentina’s Mateo Carreras, and that the All Blacks star was fully deserving of his yellow card.
The former referee also weighed in on the yellow card to Sevu Reece later in the round two Rugby Championship match, which saw the All Blacks fall to a maiden defeat to Los Pumas in Argentina, going down 29-23.
New Zealand were uncharacteristically ill-disciplined in the clash in Buenos Aires, conceding 10 penalties and three yellow cards, with Tupou Vaa’i visiting the sin bin.
Jordan was the first to head to the sin bin as he was found guilty of intentionally impeding Argentine winger Mateo Carreras after the winger had kicked the ball ahead.
Carreras had received the ball from his namesake Santiago, who had put in a deft cross-kick to the speedster following the scrum. Jordan moved into the path of the Pumas winger, and while he did not push him to the ground, he did enough to slow him down and allow for Reece to win the race for the ball in the backfield – denying the try-scoring opportunity.
Will Jordan’s yellow card
Argentina were awarded a lineout, which they took quickly and continued to attack before the All Blacks won a turnover and cleared to touch. It was at this point that referee Nic Berry and his officiating team reviewed the incident.
“It’s foul play for that, as he has clearly stepped in front, but we agree that there are enough New Zealand defenders back. So we are looking at a cynical yellow card for that,” Berry explained.
The referee duly issued the yellow card to Jordan in the 31st minute, a decision that Owens fully agrees with.
“It didn’t look like a lot, but I think he knew exactly what he was doing,” the renowned former referee said on World Rugby’s Whistle Watch show.
“So you have Argentina breaking down the field, so they are in a good attacking position down the field and if you look at what Will Jordan does, he very, very cynically and cleverly just sort of steps across slightly and blocks Argentina #11.
“So, therefore, a good pick-up by the officials here and I believe it to be a correct yellow card as well, because I think the player knew what he was doing. He just did enough to put that player off. There, because of the line break and the attacking opportunity, it becomes a yellow card, not just a penalty.”
Later in the match, Jordan’s back-three partner Reece brilliantly earned New Zealand a lineout by offloading the ball into an Argentine player before being tackled into touch.
At that stage, the All Blacks were trailing 26-13 with 14 minutes left to play. The speedster’s sharp thinking gave Scott Robertson’s side an attacking lineout deep inside Argentina’s 22, and the forwards made the most of the opportunity as they formed a maul that resulted in a try for hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho.
However, the 28-year-old made a crucial error not too long after, as he lunged at a pass by Juan Cruz Mallia with an arm and was deemed to have not been in a realistic position to catch the ball – meaning it was a deliberate knock-on.
Sevu Reece’s cynical action
He too was yellow-carded for his actions and again, Owens agreed that Berry reached the correct decision by awarding the penalty and issuing the sin-binning.
“If you have a cynical action, even though there may be nothing happening, no momentum, no line breaks, that can still be a yellow card,” Owens remarked.
“So, for a minute, I want you to put aside the fact that it was a line break, how far out they were, because if an action is cynical enough, it can be a yellow card regardless of where it is on the field.
“So what we have here is a line break opportunity for Argentina. Then we have the deliberate knock on, the referee will take into account now, was this action cynical? If he maybe felt the action itself wasn’t cynical enough for a yellow card in an isolated situation – he can take that into account what was happening around it: Was there an overlap? Where on the field it was? Was there an opportunity for a line break? If that pass had gone, were they going to be 30, 40 yards further upfield?
“So, he’ll take all of that into account, and in this instance here, they feel there was enough for a yellow card. And therefore, it’s not just a penalty with the deliberate knock on, but a yellow card because of the cynical action and because of what was happening around as well.”
Argentina opted to take a shot at goal from the ensuing penalty, which replacement fly-half Carreras converted to push Los Pumas into a 29-20 lead with six minutes remaining on the clock.
That proved to be enough of a buffer for the hosts, with Damian McKenzie knocking over another shot at goal to secure a losing bonus point for New Zealand.
