Rugby World Cup
England supporters haven't had much to cheer about recently and, although I know one swallow doesn't make a summer, it was nice to enjoy a game for a change, despite having a player sent off (maybe somewhat harshly) in the third minute.
Admittedly Argentina, who are actually ranked higher than us atm, were pretty dreadful, but you can only beat what's in front of you. Also, I have to say, the performance of the French referee (who wasn't responsible for the sending off, he merely referred the challenge to "the bunker" as is the procedure these days) has gone some way to changing my thinking that all French refs all are bent (or at least biased against England) after the performance of Pascal Gauzere in the Six Nations match against Wales in 2021 which was the dodgiest performance by any official (including Adalaide Byrd's scorecard in the first GGG v Canelo fight) I've ever witnessed in any sport.
Admittedly Argentina, who are actually ranked higher than us atm, were pretty dreadful, but you can only beat what's in front of you. Also, I have to say, the performance of the French referee (who wasn't responsible for the sending off, he merely referred the challenge to "the bunker" as is the procedure these days) has gone some way to changing my thinking that all French refs all are bent (or at least biased against England) after the performance of Pascal Gauzere in the Six Nations match against Wales in 2021 which was the dodgiest performance by any official (including Adalaide Byrd's scorecard in the first GGG v Canelo fight) I've ever witnessed in any sport.
Comments
The best thing about the big games for me is the atmosphere in the ground, but the actual game? Nah, not for me.
TMOs only ‘interrupt’ play to investigate serious, clear and obvious incidents of dangerous play missed by the Match Official team.
Referees can utilise the TMO to make a Yellow Card decision, but any extended TMO video reviews will take place once the player has left the field, not before the Yellow Card is issued.
In the Curry incident the referee issued a yellow and requested a red review by making the Hammers crossed arms signal. It was deemed reckless but not dangerous.
In the Chile incident the officials didn’t see it and obviously the TMO didn’t consider it serious dangerous play so couldn’t and didn’t intervene by awarding a red card.
The rules were changed this summer and were introduced for the World Cup which is also why there are time limits on penalties, conversions, scrums and restarts etc.
However, I still stand by my original point that, given the emphasis on avoiding any contact with the head, the clash is the Scotland-South Africa match should have resulted in a yellow at least; contact with the head, in this day and age, is invariably classed as dangerous play.
Joke decision by the TMOs.