The Death of Rugby.

This was probably the worst 6 Nations in it's entire history, with regards to officiating. The amount of inconsistency that we witnessed during this competition was scary. This is a sign of things to come for the Rugby World Cup later this year in france. World Rugby is busy killing our game by it's stupid laws, and it's lack of accountability with regards to refs. The same referees, are making the same mistakes over and over again, yet they still keep getting to ref in the biggest games. How many times must I point out Marius Jonker is the worst TMO in Rugby? Yet, he still gets to TMO at the biggest level of rugby. I can go on and on about horrible refereeing and TMO performances, yet nothing gets done by World Rugby. We hear them do all this talk referees having their games reviewed in their "Official Channels", yet every weekend, we see the same guys taking over the big games. What's the point of a review, if you're not willing to actually punish someone for not performing? I honestly think it's a complete lie that gets told by World Rugby, so that they can protect the refs from public scrutiny.

In this videos I point out so many inconsistencies, where one game something gets blown a certain way, then the next game that same law is completely different or doesn't apply. What is the point of having laws, when it gets applied differently every single game?

I mean the Freddie Steward red card against Ireland was the final straw for me, it shows how absurd rugby has gotten, when a player tries to avoid a hit, , but has no time to fully avoid it, braces for the hit in a way to lessen the impact on the other play. That then results in him getting a red card. It's a joke. Then we have the Gael Fickou Tackle against Wales, where he lifts Alyn Wyn Jones, drives him into the ground. It's a bad tackle, but nothing dangerous. Nic Berry, of all refs, gets it right and uses commons sense to say it wasn't dangerous, so he only gives a penalty. Then we get the game directly after that one, where England played Ireland. Jack Willis goes in to make contact with an Ireland player. He lifts him, and puts him on the ground. It was nowhere near as "dangerous" as the Fickou one. Jaco Peyper then reviews it, then Marius Jonker gets involved, by that time you already know it's going to be a stupid decision. They end up deciding that it was a yellow card to Jack Willis. SO we have to exactly the same type of tackles, yet it gets penalized differently. Surely that should tell World Rugby there is a big problem? Then we also had Wayne Barnes who was not good this year, I'll let the video show his mistake

Then we have the forearm incident in the Wales vs Italy game. Italian Wing Bruno runs into Wales 1, he puts his arm out. Makes contact with his chest, then to his neck. Wales 1 drops and falls. They go and review it, then they watch the replays. Initially the ref agrees it's low degree of danger, as it hit chest first, then the neck. The TMO then tries to force him to give a red card, by showing him the worst angle, and ignoring the angle where you can see it made contact with the chest first. Then the ref almost gives a red card. Luckily the AR stops it and uses common sense to save the situation.

Then we have in that same game, the aerial challenges. I can't even explain it, you have to check it. You have Two challenges where one is significantly worse than the other. Yet, the one that was worst, doesn't even get penalized, and the one that was soft, gets penalized. Again, there simply is no consistency, if this continues, Then It's The Death Of Rugby.

[johnktm]

The ref in the Wales Italy match was shocking, he gave Italy nothing at all.

[wernerkruger]

The inconsistency of the ref's/tmo's frightening....this years word cup will be won not by the best team but the luckiest one. SHAME ON YOU WORLD RUGBY!!!

[roddymac]

Great video. I have sympathy for Steward, Gilchrist etc. Must say I have great respect for captains like Michele Lamaro. Italy were on the wrong end of some poor decisions including one vs my team Scotland. Lamaro takes it on the chin while obviously unhappy, sportsmanlike.However the game is degrading as a result of these new laws.

[christopherlawrence]

As a Wales fan, always happy to see the English lose but never in those circumstances. The red they received yesterday was beyond a joke and makes me fear for the future of the sport if it continues to be officiated in this way. England fans have every right to feel hard done by as there was absolutely nothing more he could’ve done to lessen the impact, the guy ran head first into his elbow ffs

[francoisbiermann]

Almost looks like rugby players are starting to do "dives" like in football to gain attention to get (milk) a penalty

[louisgregoire]

Shoeman's elbow in Dupont's neck was already shocking watching the game live, it seems real bad now.

[alexandertalbot]

Welshman here that definitely wasn’t a red card

[bosskoala]

Great work but as a Frenchman I can’t help but laughing at people suddenly discovering ref bias lol. Inconsistency in decisions but consistency in teams penalised ;)

[jagorsimp]

Agree that there is consistency issues on what individual refs consider legal or illegal in the games. Although a lot of the clips you compare are not the same. The Fickou and Willis high tackles are not the same, as many others have already pointed out. The dangerous head-contact tackles between the English one and the Irish one are not the same (although I agree the red card was too much on England case, but there was still head contact, unlike the Irish on French fool tackle). The Italy-Wales aerial contest are also different; one being a real contest, the other not. Those referees have little time to make the call, unlike us having the possibility to watch slow mos, over and over again from our couch. As long as there are humans referees, we will always see arguable calls from referees. If you think otherwise you are delusional

[Grumpy_Hobbit]

I wonder if people that agree with the red to Steward see it from the alternate point of view. What I mean is, if you expect Steward to have somehow change his momentum while off the ground and turning to avoid a collision do you think Keenan would have been able to stop stumbling forward into the collision and avoid his head hitting Stewards arm?

Why is the English player expected to alter the laws of physics but not the Irish player? And if you agree neither player can alter the laws of physics and momentum is unavoidable then perhaps the collision is nothing more then an accident and not worthy of anything other then making sure both players are medically looked after, the game continues in the spirit of the game and the stupid debates on if a red card for an accidental collision ends with refs using their eyes and brains and not their leashes.

[recruitmentwebsites]

Thanks for an awesome video the ref in England vs Ireland should not be able to officiate another game. He is full of these kind of decisions and he ruins games.

[colmancooke]

You cannot compare the 2 incidents. Firstly the french player tackles a guy one one one. And the English player tackles a guy without a ball from a group of players. He deserved his yellow

[kenrehill]

It’s been knocked down to a yellow, but he was still off the pitch for over half the match and England had a small chance of winning

[iaintalbot]

I’ve played senior rugby for 22 years and I’ve never felt so sad about the current state of the game!
Red cards decided games, in my opinion it’s the rules that need to change not the refs.
Women’s rugby World Cup decided by a red card! Just imagine a red card in the men’s World Cup final it could well be the death of rugby!

[wynandvanrensburg]

There is no doubt these bad rules and inconsistant application are killing rugby. Really sad for one of the most exciting games in sport.

[rossgordon]

The difference with the first 2 clips is the tackle by the French player is that, a tackle as you pointed out, when 2 players have momentum in opposite directions often this can cause a turning effect and lead to a player landing on their side or shoulder . The second example by the English 7 is completely different and shouldn’t be compared is he isn’t making a tackle, his goal is not the get the Irish player to ground with the ball because he doesn’t have it. He has started well driving him back; then with clear intent lifts him and turns him past 90 degrees and brings him down on his shoulder, where the Irish played had 2 free hands to protect himself because he didn’t have the ball. Lucky that was only yellow, potential for red in my eyes because of the intent

[tomytomate]

Tell what you want, Ireland has been favored during the entire tournament.

[pierrevorster]

In every single one of those penalties. The players were acting and milking the penalty. Rugby is turning into soccer and it is very sad to see. Shame on all of them. They are killing the game

[johanroodt]

Don’t think any NH fans can dismiss you as bias anymore. There is a serious issue with how the game is being referred and that’s hurting the products and growth of the game

[farmerwright]

Lots of people talking about Stewards being red by the letter of the law....Two things, firstly the law is wrong and not working and we're seeing evidence of that with the inconsistency. Secondly if the law is wrong referees need to use intuition which they seem bereft of! All this leads to calls like Stewards which if correct sets a president that any player can run head first into another player and get them sent off. The duty of care is on BOTH players not just the tackler! We're leading this game down a rocky path to touch rugby the way things are going....
One more point... the pundits who are mostly ex players/coaches need to stop playing the politics game and start questioning the refs more and if its a wrong call say it. I would rather hear them all arguing with passion than just sit there towing the party line, it does the cause for progress no favours!