Nigel Owens dives into the Jac Morgan ruckgate and calls out ‘a lot of experts on social media and a lot of pundits’
British and Irish Lions flanker Jac Morgan and former Test referee Nigel Owens.
Nigel Owens has shared his thoughts on ruckgate, the controversy that has blown up around Saturday’s hotly debated breakdown collision between Jac Morgan of the British and Irish Lions and Australia’s Carlo Tizzano.
The Wallabies forward fell backwards out of the ruck after getting struck by Morgan, but play was allowed to continue and the Lions’ attack ended with Hugo Keenan scoring the try that sealed a 29-26 comeback victory for Andy Farrell’s side.
The decisive second Test score, which also clinched the series for the Lions with one match to spare, was reviewed by referee Andrea Piardi and his supporting officials and they concluded that no foul play had taken place against Tizzano.
Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt begged to differ, though, angrily requesting at his post-match media briefing that people check out law 9:20. It deals with dangerous play in a ruck or maul and one of five lines highlights the line of the shoulder contact point.
‘His actions are perfect…’
This was where Schmidt felt Morgan had transgressed and should have been penalised for his clear-out, a view endorsed on Sunday by Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh, who called on World Rugby to explain.
With that explanation yet to materialise, retired referee Owens stepped into the breach on Monday morning with an appearance on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, and he was adamant no foul play had occurred.
“There are a lot of experts on social media and a lot of pundits who think they are experts at refereeing as well,” he began.
“There are a couple of things you need to judge here. First of all, are Jac Morgan’s actions legal? Is he coming in low, and are the arms out ready to wrap and clear out?
“If he wasn’t doing that and leading with his shoulder, then you have foul play and a penalty. His actions are perfect in the way you would expect a player to clean out.
“There is a chance the Australian player who has come into the ruck has not come through the gate, but that is irrelevant in the outcome because if there was foul play, it would trump that.
“The Australian player gets in, and he is very low. This happens throughout the game, and you see many of these incidents.
“Jac goes in and tries to get in very low or underneath him to clear him out. So it’s textbook clearing out for me. The only time this would be illegal is if the Australian player was in that position and Jac was a couple of seconds later arriving and he had time to readjust, then there would be conversations about foul play.
“Because it is relatively dynamic, as the referee has explained, both of them are pretty much there simultaneously. The Australian player gets there a split second before, but Jac is already coming in with a legal clear-out, so there is no foul play.”
