World Rugby admit to error over Springboks star’s yellow card as Nigel Owens wants ‘grey area’ cleared up
Former Test referee Nigel Owens and the knock-on which led to Kurt-Lee Arendse's yellow card.
Kurt-Lee Arendse was unfortunate to be sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on in the Springboks’ victory over England, according to former Test referee Nigel Owens.
The speedster was adjudged to have committed an indiscretion when he went for the ball by extending one arm above his head.
On the day the officials deemed that it warranted a yellow card, briefly halting the momentum South Africa had built after going 17-0 in front.
Appearing on World Rugby’s Whistle Watch programme alongside former Wales international Jamie Roberts, Owens firstly broke down what constitutes a deliberate knock-on and a sin-binning.
What is a deliberate knock-on
“Forget the one hand because players can catch the ball with one hand, we see them in the lineout, it’s a great skill when players can do it,” he said.
“What you need to judge it on in my understanding and my view of it is, was that player in a realistic position to regather the ball? Was he, ‘unlucky, he nearly got that’. Fine, knock-on.
“If you’re going, ‘there’s no way you’re going to catch that ball, there’s no way that player is going to regather that ball’, then that should be a penalty.
“Not every deliberate knock-on is a yellow card, it comes after what happens next – was there a line break? Was there an overlap? That comes into the yellow card debate.
“Do you think that player had a realistic opportunity of regathering the ball?”
Roberts responded, “I do”, believing that Arendse should not have been penalised, and Owens revealed that was also the view of the global governing body.
“The general consensus from World Rugby and the officials on this is that it should have remained just a knock-on, the TMO should not have come in and got involved with this and given it a yellow card,” he said.
“They feel that he could have regathered that ball, it was unlucky he didn’t, hence it was a knock-on.”
Owens wants law cleared up
Owens himself believed that it was a fine line and some people might take an alternative view on the incident, stating it was a “grey area” for officials.
The respected former Test referee duly called on the relevant bodies to band together and clear it up to ease the burden on those making the decisions in the middle.
“If you’re looking at this and going, ‘I disagree with that, I don’t think he would have ever caught that ball’, that would be the reason why you would escalate to a penalty and then end up with a yellow card,” he added.
“I’m with you on it in one sense, it’s not one of those that jump out at me as a deliberate knock-on and yellow card.
“It’s a bit of a grey area that I would like to see them tighten up a little bit more and [have a bit more] consistency on.”
