Rugby World UK – August 2019

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Our former elite referee sees red over a decision at the U20 World Cup

SARACENS HAVE
announced that for every
new season ticket sold in July,
the club will donate 50% of the
proceeds to Saracens High
School, where the funds will be
used primarily for the provision of
sports coaches, kit and equipment.
The school, located one mile from
Sarries’ North London ground Allianz
Park, is the first free mainstream
secondary school in England to be
opened by a professional sports club.

The Earl and Countess of

Forfar, aka Prince Edward

and his wife Sophie, this month

visited Inchmacoble Park to see

the Strathmore Rugby Club

Community Trust in action,

including their Rugby Academy.

The aim of the project is to use rugby

to teach life skills to secondary pupils

from Forfar, Kirriemuir and Brechin.

The royal guests also learnt about the

Trust’s latest initiative – autism-friendly

rugby for primary school children.

Players run 40m shuttles (20m each

way) with the speed of each ‘level’

increasing as you go – the pace to

hit each line is indicated by a beep.

Unpunished high hits

C

ONTROVERSIALLY, LAST
autumn Owen Farrell
twice escaped sanction
for dangerous tackles that
caused no lasting physical
damage but left a mark on the game.
Soon after, World Rugby launched a
‘decision-making framework for high
tackles’. The framework has existed
for years, but the real difference is the
formality of the announcement and the
transparency and publicity behind it.
It served as a message to players and
referees that clear lines of engagement

have been drawn in an attempt to drive

dangerous tackles out of the game. As

is often the case, the U20 World Cup

then served as a practice ground for

new interpretations or regulations and

the framework was released ahead of

this year’s tournament in Argentina.

So it was disappointing to see that in

one of the big games there was a yellow

card given that quite clearly should have

been red. There is clear guidance on

what constitutes a penalty, yellow or

red card and the acceptable mitigating

factors that lead to any ‘get out clause’

the referee can choose – something

football referees are very envious of!

In the 48th minute, with Wales leading

New Zealand 5-0, Welsh full-back Ioan

Davies stood his ground to catch a high

kick... only to be shoulder-charged in a

monstrous hit by Samipeni Finau. Given

the process outlined, it’s difficult to see

how the ref (Christophe Ridley) came to

any decision other than a straight red. 

The ref had a clear, unobstructed view,

too. Finau simply got his technique all

wrong. The framework is transparent, so

bad decisions have nowhere to hide. n

SCHOOLS

ROUND

UP

JARGON BUSTER

Yo-Yo test

THE

(^) SECRET REFEREE
What did I do?
Samipeni Finau
acts innocent