Nigel Owens explains why All Blacks star was correctly yellow carded against England despite criticism from ex-players
Former Test referee Nigel Owens and the act which led to Codie Taylor's yellow card.
Nigel Owens has suggested that the sheer cynicism of Codie Taylor’s action meant that a yellow card was warranted in last weekend’s defeat to England.
Speaking on this week’s Whistle Watch, which was released by World Rugby on Thursday, the former Test referee went through the big decisions from the previous weekend.
That included a sin-binning for Taylor when he knocked the ball out of Marcus Smith’s hands while both were on the floor.
First penalty All Blacks conceded
It occurred just after half-time and up until that point the All Blacks had not conceded a penalty, which led former players to claim that a yellow card was harsh.
Rugby World Cup winner Stephen Donald was one such person to hit out at the call, saying on The Breakdown: “You can’t say that a referee call in a result like this has decided it, but this was huge.
“There’s no hiding from the fact it was a momentum-killer for the All Blacks and it kick-started England. There are so many questions around this. What’s a TMO jumping in on this for and what’s it doing to our game?
“They were on no warning. We can’t have sour grapes here because we lost by 14 but this was huge for me.”
The All Blacks did not have too many qualms about the decision, however, and Owens revealed why the TMO stepped in and Andrea Piardi issued a yellow card.
Owens’ explanation
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the first penalty of the last penalty, if there’s been 30 or if there’s been five, if a referee feels that the actual player is cynical – it’s deliberate, he knows exactly what he’s doing, he’s killing the situation there and then – they would get a yellow card without a warning,” he said.
“Most of the times when we see a yellow card for technical offences is when there’s been repeated infringements or the referee’s given a warning or it’s near the try-line.
“In this instance, the New Zealand player is on the ground, he’s now out of the game. He can do nothing to get back on his feet and what he does is uses his hand and knocks the ball out of the possession of England in a cynical action.
“The TMO comes in here and sees this. If something is cynical in this deliberate knock-on type of action, the TMO can come in, so he tells the referee that this is cynical.
“If the match officials feel that if the action is so cynical and deliberate that it warrants a straight yellow there and then, even though the penalty count may be low.”
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