ALAIN ROLLAND: The Lions decided the match not any referee decisions… officials had a good day

ALAIN ROLLAND: The Lions decided the match through their impressive second-half display, not decisions from the referee… that suggests the officials had a good day at the office

  • The referees didn’t decide the match which is a sign they had a successful day
  • It was the Lions’ performance after the break which proved to be decisive
  • Officials were right to rule out tries from Willie le Roux and Damian de Allende
  • Hamish Watson decision could have gone either way so referee was not wrong

In a Test match as intense as this, you are always going to get a host of tight calls. I think most people, though, will be talking about the game: how the Lions played, how good the set-piece was, how well the kick-chase worked in the second half. I would be very surprised to see the discussion around the match to be about the referee.

It was the teams who decided the result of the match, not the officials. That is usually a sign of a successful day at the office.

There will, of course, be some who think some decisions should have gone differently no matter how good the officials were because they support the team who lost. That’s life.

Some people will always blame the officials but on the whole they had a good day at the office

INCIDENT 1 – 47min  

Willie le Roux scores a try but it’s ruled out for offside after TMO review.

This is the correct decision. You need to look at the kicker’s standing foot, NOT the foot that’s in the air striking the ball. The back foot sets the offside line, not the point of contact with the ball.

It is no different to when you are defending your goal-line. You might be leaning forward, with your torso and hands in front of the line (while not on the ground) but your feet are on or behind the line.

The offside position is from the hindmost foot.The referee gave the try on the field. For the TMO to overrule that, there has to be compelling evidence.

There was enough to show Le Roux was in front of the foot that was planted. 

The decision to rule out Willie le Roux's try for offside in the second half was the correct one

The decision to rule out Willie le Roux’s try for offside in the second half was the correct one

INCIDENT 2 – 50min

Faf de Klerk scores, TMO reviews a possible knock-on by Pieter-Steph du Toit but the try is awarded.

The match officials got this spot-on. The final angle they showed on the television was conclusive. Du Toit never touched the ball with his hand. It struck his leg and went backwards, then his team-mate picked the ball up. I don’t think anyone will have any complaints.

INCIDENT 3 – 65mins

Hamish Watson’s dangerous tackle. Some people will look at that tackle within the context of the game and don’t see it to be particularly dangerous.

Others will look at the technicality of the tackle, see feet lifted up beyond the horizontal and deem it, within the laws, to be a yellow card.

Just giving a penalty does not make it an incorrect call. Had the referee pulled out a yellow card, that would also have been an acceptable call.

The game is not black and white. Every decision does not fit neatly into a box.

Hamish Watson could have been shown yellow but that doesn't mean the referee was wrong

Hamish Watson could have been shown yellow but that doesn’t mean the referee was wrong

INCIDENT 4 – 72min 

Damian de Allende scores a try but it’s ruled out for a knock-on.

Again, the officials got it right. There was a contest in the air between Liam Williams and Cheslin Kolbe. You can clearly see that the last touch on the ball came from the South Africa winger and went in a forward direction.That is enough compelling evidence.

The referee asked for three things to be checked: the knock-on, then to see if there was a pull back, and then the grounding. Once the knock-on was given, the first offence in the sequence, what happens next is immaterial. It was another good process from the team of match officials.

The officials were once again right late on when Damian de Allende's try was ruled out

The officials were once again right late on when Damian de Allende’s try was ruled out

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