Rugby Australia boss’ scathing clap back at ex-French ref’s attack on Super Rugby laws trials

Legendary Wallabies flanker and now Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh has brutally clapped back at ex-referee Mathieu Raynal.

This is after the Frenchman drew first blood by slamming Super Rugby Pacific’s law trials that will be conducted this year, with the southern hemisphere competition further depowering the scrum in an attempt to speed up the game.

“Thirty years of leading innovation across the rugby world will continue in Super Rugby Pacific in 2026 with new law modifications designed to further reduce stoppages, inspire positive play and simplify the officiating of the game,” a SANZAAR statement read.

Raynal slams Super Rugby trials

The ‘modifications’ in the lawbook include accidental offsides and teams delaying playing the ball, resulting in a free-kick rather than a scrum. Additionally, players will be allowed to take quick taps within a metre either side of the mark and within a two-metre channel running parallel to the touchlines.

The referee won’t be required to issue a yellow card after awarding a penalty try, either, while further tweaks are designed to create more opportunities for 50:22s and limit the number of caterpillar rucks.

South Africa’s Jaco Peyper believes that several of the changes won’t provide the outcomes that they are intended to achieve, but his former colleague Raynal was far more damning in his retort.

“They [the southern hemisphere] want more passing, more tries, less time spent in mauls and scrums, whereas we [the northern hemisphere] defend these specific elements and are against directions being set by the southern hemisphere,” he told Sud Radio.

“Our championship [the Top 14] works. Our stadiums are full, rugby is more watched than football in the country. We don’t want to follow directions coming from countries where stadiums are empty, where they are trying to recreate spectacle and bring people back to stadiums at any cost, even if it means sacrificing fairness and the principle of player safety.”

France have been against the introduction of the 20-minute red card, which the south has campaigned for, with a final decision on its future to be made at the Shape of the Game meeting in a few weeks.

Exclusive: World Rugby clear up red card ‘confusion’ ahead of 2026 Six Nations

Waugh’s clap back

Raynal’s scathing attack on southern hemisphere rugby was met with a similarly brutal riposte from Waugh, who states that Super Rugby has been the premier domestic competition in the world since its launch in 1996.

The former flanker also claimed South Africa’s most recent World Cup victory as a win for the competition, despite their exit in 2020, and took a massive dig at Raynal for his controversial call during the 2022 Bledisloe Cup clash between the Wallabies and All Blacks.

“And then how that plays through with the Southern Hemisphere, winning nine out of 10 Rugby World Cups, you can’t win World Cups without having a really strong domestic league underneath it,” Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald during the launch of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season.

“We’ll continue to evolve in our market. We know we’ve got the most congested market, we’re the canary in the coal mine. We’re here in the Southern Hemisphere, and we’ll continue to challenge to make the game better.

“And, you know, interesting comments from a guy who probably [has] one of the most ridiculous refereeing decisions in the history of the Bledisloe Cup.”

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The decision that Waugh referenced occurred during the clash between Australia and New Zealand in 2022 when he penalised Bernard Foley for time-wasting, in the dying moments of the match in Brisbane.

At the time, the Wallabies were leading 37-34, and from the ensuing scrum, Jordie Barrett scored a match-winning try for the All Blacks.

“You just run the time. And you know exactly … if you think I am not capable to give a scrum and turn over ball, you make a mistake. So now you know it,” Raynal told stand-in Wallabies skipper Nic White after the game.

READ MORE: Rugby Championship: Coaches offer contrasting reactions after controversial Bledisloe I