Dear World Rugby... Is This Match Fixing, Or Just Incompetence? | Italy vs Wales 2023

What a disgraceful performance by the officials in the Italy vs Wales 6 Nations game. Damon Murphy should be ashamed of his performance, and also Joy Neville, who was the ref. The amount of incompetence on full display is astonishing. The only official on the field who deserves respect and cred, was Karl Dickson, who tried his very best, to prevent the ref from destroying the game, but it wasn't enough. Damon Murphy was simply too incompent. Displays like this, from a ref and TMO, makes people question the integrity of the game. It begs the question, is there Match Fixing involved, or are we dealing with complete incompetence. I'm not even sure what is worse at this point.

The Italian Coach, Kieran Crowley, was frustrated after the game and he rightfully called out World Rugby and their useles "Official Channels" where there is absolute no accountability from the refs. They get to say "Sorry" and move on. Not to mention, this all happens in private. So that World Rugby can brittle egos of refs because they can't handle critisism. When will this stop?

This was a shocking officiating display by World Rugby. The amount of crucial penalties missed, is astonishing. Not to mention, it happened to always favor Wales. I would show both sides of the story, but there was only one side. Damon Murphy had a clear bias towards Wales, it's not even debatable.

But as we all know, nothing will happen

[robertedwards]

I'm Welsh and I don't want to win like this, it keeps the performance bar low and no progress in improving play can be made. Thanks for your videos.

[brianwoodbutcher]

I’m an England fan, but if I was an Italian supporter I would be livid at the series of dubious decisions that have gone against them over the years. A lot of criticism has been levelled at the Italian side over the years and questions about their right to continued participation in the tournament, but until the officials can treat them the same as the other nations there should be no discussion about replacing them.

[leonabc]

Shocking. And yet no-one is allowed to say anything to the old boys club at World Rugby. Completely agree that this years World Cup will most probably be decided by poor refereeing.

[xolisaxman]

If it was Rassie Erasmus speaking about ref ? World rugby will be saying alot.

[pepesempire]

The ref was a mess .. should never ref another game at this level.

[OldSchool-omzo]

Yep, utter shocker of a performance by the officials

[jameslynch]

Now this is absolutely spot on. As a neutral watching this game I was absolutely screaming at the telly when several of these calls were made. I’ve always been a fan of Karl Dickson the Assistant ref who you rightly praised for showing common sense - the ref ignored him for Brex’s disallowed try. What’s clear to me is that whilst Italy haven’t yet got the results they want, they’re certainly no longer just the whipping boys of the Six Nations and have come a long way, but it’s clear the performances of the referees in their games isn’t reflecting that. Michele Lamaro is an absolute class act. Such a young man leading an inexperienced team who’ve been through so much adversity, a wonderful ball-carrier with terrific vision who’ll play a big part (and already has done) in Italy’s upward trajectory in years to come. Not to mention how good his English is

[stefanopianigiani]

As an Italian rugby fan it was very frustrating, mainly because I'm sure if we the other way round happened Italy would have been penalised. The impression we gathered was that Italy ought not to win that game.

[rosstitley]

inconsistency of the referees is ruining this sport? What is World Rugby doing about it? It seems like they aren't doing anything about it...

[amos]

really embarrassing these referees. It seems that all the referees want to penalize Italy that certainly makes too many mistakes but let’s be clear: it must not be penalized in this way by incompetent arbitrators. Only contempt for these totally random unjustified decisions

[Spinnyoza]

The inconsistency in refereeing decisions despite the availability of a video ref is frustrating. The yellow/red cards in this year's 6 nations have been a complete joke.
One thing is for certain though, referees still have no clue what is going on in scrums and just guess decisions.

[liampower]

The offside lines would never have been made in the first place, as Brex doesn't technically come "over the ball", since the ball was never "on the ground". It's not incompetence from the ref, just incompetence from a YouTube channel that can't read the laws correctly

[richardgreen]

I love the game of rugby for many reasons. I also hate and despise the control the refs have on the game without being able to question their mistakes. The players train so hard and put their lives on the line. They deserve better refereeing with consequences for shit refereeing.

[barringtonpenrose]

No Ruck, no offside line, perfectly legal tackle !! Liam Williams doesn't have ti move out of the way and just let the Italian bust through, legal !!

[vincentolivier]

Pity Italy is so often refered as a second tier nation

[ActarusRules]

I'm disgusted. What a shadow on the tournament and Rugby, there is no excuse for such incompetence. Italy deserves respect. People are tired of this crap and don't go to the stadium anymore.

[japiereyneke]

Really nervous for the impact refs will have on RWC. For the last 3-4 years, this game that we so love, has really been impacted drastically by horrible calls, against and for many teams. When are the coaches, teams and players going to stand and unit against this crap!!

[kristian]

This match was very frustrating. I'm South African but I was shouting for Italy in this one

[Tanutheoriginal]

As an Italian I was not happy with the refereeing. Truth to be said, we played one of our worst games and Bruno’s mistakes both in attack and defence costed us dearly. Even with such poor refereeing we could have won this with a little more patience and spotless execution

[oujgorod]

@Stefano Pianigiani,
I understand because as french we have been frustrated so many times for decades and decades in the tournament.
In 2023, most of time the referee is honest and objective... but not always, even this year!
Your impression is correct and it's not just the referee's incompetence.
Most of the referees are British, and they are far from all being impartial!
And above this, there is the commonwealth...
This had been explained to me long time ago in a Scottish pub :-)