Sir John Kirwan concerned by officiating ‘problem’ with one penalty ‘way more common’ in the northern hemisphere
Jac Morgan clearing out Carlo Tizzano and All Blacks legend Sir John Kirwan.
Former All Blacks wing Sir John Kirwan has claimed that the officiating in the two hemispheres is still not aligned after a controversial second British and Irish Lions Test.
The famous touring side overcame the Wallabies 29-26 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, but there was a fierce debate over the final try.
Australians felt that Jac Morgan should have been penalised for his clearout on Carlo Tizzano prior to Hugo Keenan’s match-winning score for the Lions.
Some have argued foul play while others thought a technical offence had taken place, accusing Morgan of going off his feet.
Kirwan’s issue with officiating
Kirwan felt it was a “courageous” decision from referee Andrea Piardi and ultimately suggested a fair call had been made, but that confusion is being created by different interpretations between the north and the south.
“The sealing off rule… if you watch northern hemisphere versus southern hemisphere rugby, sealing off in the northern hemisphere is way more common than in the southern hemisphere. I don’t know how you judge that rule,” he said.
“If you go back to every single ruck, I guarantee that what the Lions did, the Australian team did in the first half – sealed off or hit a guy on the shoulder – and this is part of the problem of our laws and how we interpret them.
“The problem is a referee needs to stay consistent. There are 18 different decisions that a referee needs to make at every ruck.
“While we’re sitting on the couch enjoying it, what we’ve got is the slow motion, but the game is so fast and so physical that decision-making is sometimes just about impossible.”
Lions series refereeing team
The refereeing team of Piardi, Ben O’Keeffe and Nika Amashukeli have been in place since the first Test, with them rotating throughout the series.
O’Keeffe took charge of the opener, with the other two his assistants, before the Italian was the man in the middle for the Melbourne clash, while Amashukeli will have the responsibility in the finale in Sydney.
They have worked together in order to try and generate consistency with their decision-making, but Kirwan still believes there are variations with each referee and that it is an issue.
“We’ve got to join the hemispheres. If you watch northern hemisphere rugby, the ruck is refereed differently and that’s part of the challenge of northern and southern hemisphere teams playing – you need to adjust to the ref,” he added.
“It was a northern hemisphere ref, so he’s going to let sealing off go a lot more – that’s what he’s used to in the northern hemisphere.”
