URC referee pays the price for Munster mare as Nigel Owens’ call for ‘accountability’ is heard
Diarmuid Kilgallen of Munster and an inset of URC referee Andrea Piardi.
Italian referee Andrea Piardi will not officiate a United Rugby Championship (URC) fixture this weekend after his handling of Munster v Bulls last Saturday.
Piardi was at the centre of the controversy at Thomond Park after he mistakenly reduced Munster to 14 men following injuries to both of the Irish province’s tighthead props.
Starting prop Oli Jager departed the pitch in the first half to undergo an HIA, which he ultimately failed, before his replacement, Stephen Archer, sustained a contact injury early in the second forty.
Piardi dropped after big blunder
This led to uncontested scrums, but in addition, Piardi erroneously ordered Munster to take one of their players from the field of play, which would have been the correct decision had both props sustained contact injuries.
Munster would play the next 14 minutes down a man against the Bulls before the Irish province’s pleas were heard by the officials on the sidelines, who allowed Alex Kendellen to rejoin the action. While the Bulls did not capitalise on the advantage, it did hamstring the hosts during that period as they failed to score as well.
That was not the only high-profile error that the Italian made as the Bulls’ only try of the match came after number eight Cameron Hanekom tapped the ball off his thigh from a penalty, which should have been deemed a knock-on.
Ultimately, the Bulls would go on to clinch a 16-13 victory, becoming the first South African team to knock Munster over on their home turf.
The URC has since confirmed the match official appointments for round 16 of the tournament, with Piardi omitted entirely.
Brian O’Driscoll hits out at ’embarrassing’ officiating as Munster can feel ‘very hard done by’
Nigel Owens’ plea
This comes after former referee, and currently one of the URC ref managers, Nigel Owens, expressed the need for more transparency and openness around officiating performances.
“If they [coaches] feel a referee has not performed well in a game or perhaps even cost them an important result, but then they see them refereeing another game the following week, they will think ‘where’s the accountability?’. If their players had performed like that, they would probably argue that they wouldn’t pick them again the next week, and the same standard should be held for referees,” Owens wrote in his WalesOnline column.
“But, on the other hand, sometimes in the game, a coach’s players will perform badly but will still play the following week – maybe because they don’t have another option or because they are still the best option. Remember, form is temporary, class is permanent. That is the same for referees.”
He added: “I think there has to be a bit more openness and transparency, however. This is where the difficulty lies.
“When a referee clearly has made an error that may well have cost a team the game, it is dealt with in the sense that the referee manager will feed back to the coach and say they got it wrong, but it then stays there. The coach will know they got it wrong but it won’t change the result, so I understand their frustrations and those of supporters too.
“There is accountability in that consistent mistakes – although not just a one-off – will affect a referee’s future appointments. But the rugby public don’t see that accountability as it’s not out there, so it makes sense that they would be frustrated without that clear transparency there.”3
URC Round 16 match officials
Friday
Glasgow Warriors v Bulls
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA / 20.35 SA
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 102nd league game)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (SRU), Finlay Brown (SRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
Cardiff Rugby v Munster
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA / 20.35 SA
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR, 39th league game)
Assistant referees: Mike English (WRU), Aaron Parry (WRU)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)
Live on: BBC Wales, TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
Saturday
Lions v Connacht
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 15.00 IRE & UK / 16.00 ITA / 16.00 SA
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU, 20th league game)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira (SARU), Hanru Van Rooyen (SARU)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
Live on: SuperSport, TG4, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
Ospreys v Dragons
Venue: Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
Kick-off: 15.00 IRE & UK / 16.00 ITA / 16.00 SA
Referee: Ben Breakspear (SRU, 10th league game)
Assistant referees: Gareth Newman (WRU), Carwyn Sion (WRU)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (SRU)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
Stormers v Benetton
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA / 18.15 SA
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU, 43rd league game)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU) AR 2: Griffin Colby (SARU)
TMO: Craig Evans (WRU)
Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
Scarlets v Leinster
Venue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
Kick-off: 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA / 18.15 SA
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 89th league game)
Assistant referees: Matthew Leon (WRU), Aaron Perry (WRU)
TMO: Colin Brett (SRU)
Live on: S4C, RTÉ, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
Ulster v Sharks
Venue: Kingspan Stadium, Ulster
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA / 20.35 SA
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 107th league game)
Assistant referees: Padraic Reidy (IRFU), Paul Haycock (IRFU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)
Live on: BBC NI, RTÉ, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
Zebre Parma v Edinburgh
Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA / 20.35 SA
Referee: Ben Connor (WRU, 3rd league game)
Assistant referees: Filippo Russo (FIR), Dario Merli (FIR)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)
Live on: Sky Italia, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
