Rugby Referee Analysis: Paul Williams | Springboks vs Australia Rugby Championship 2022

What I saw today from Paul Williams was absolutely disgraceful. He was single handedly the reason the Springboks lost that game. We absolutely dominated Australia the first half and had the possession and territory, but absolutely got nothing as Paul Williams decided the game has different rules for the two teams. But that aside, the most shocking moment in the whole game happened at the end of the first half. It started with Mapimpi getting the ball on the sideline and sprinting to score an easy try. But then Marika Koroibete comes in recklessly and shoulder charges Mapimpi with no arms, which results in Mapimpi losing control of the ball and not scoring the try. The ref then just says it was a knock on and completely ignores Damien Willemse who asked about the tackle. To make it worse, they keep on showing replays and different angles and every single one of the angles show the same thing, a reckless shoulder charge. This was as close as you can get to a penalty try and yellow card but for some reason, the TMO and Ref did not even see this as a penalty. How on earth is Paul Williams an international ref, if he misses this?

Then to make things absolutely worse, the the next thing happens. It's a scrum for Australia and Faf is trying to pressure Nic White. He then tries to swipe at the ball, but lightly struck Nic on the chin. It was barely a touch, but then Nic White goes full soccer mode and absolutely milks it. The ref then goes to the TMO and they check the replays and watch it over and over in slow motion. They then come to the conclusion that this incident is a yellow card, which is absolutely ridiculous. The reaction from Siya Kolisi and Faf de Klerk after hearing the ref say yellow card, is how every single fan reacted when it was said. It was a complete joke. Nic White should be ashamed of himself and appologize to rugby fans and Faf de Klerk about that. As for Paul Williams and the TMO. How on earth are these two allowed to officiate in a game of this caliber? If they make mistakes like this, how are they allowed to be at this level? It's absolutely disgraceful from World Rugby

[WarNeverChanges]

Nic White went on like freaking Neymar there 🤣🤣🤣🤣 so dramatic I loved what the South African commentator said when Nic White kicked the ball out so funny 🤣🤣🤣 "he somehow miraciously recovered"

[loganmcmillan]

Watch the reverse angle at half speed - Mapimpi tries to jump over Marika - Marika got him mostly with his left arm. It missed his shoulder. Looked like a legal tackle to me and the real danger came from Mapimpi trying to jump over the tackler.

[toradojo]

Nick white missed his calling to play soccer

[h]

If this was one of our Springbok wingers covering the field to make such an amazing try saving tackle we wouldn't be winging about it. Man up and give credit where credit is due...great tackle by Marika! It's not the ref's fault we lost the game. Onward and upward.

[elikinukutabu]

Rugby rules have changed over time but we've (Fijians) been tackling this way ever since the game came to our shores, up to this day. We even have names for different tackles to express ourselves. This one's called 'moto bitu' (bamboo spear) - swift and sharp!!

[mikewhocheesehairy]

There was one moment where damian de allende got shoulder charged in the head and u could see him complaining and everyone just pretend it didn’t happen not sure if theirs footage not even onr highlight was shown

[Aesyrbane]

Faf gets yellow for his thumb connecting with whites chin but fainga'a doesn't get a yellow for deliberately entering a maul from the wrong side when Boks were cruising forward.. the ref had a shockeR.

Boks were bad too, no excuses, we deserved to lose.

[connorrice]

I actually think the Marika one was a legitimate tackle that was made awkward because Mapimpi jumps into the contact. Faf absolutely shouldn't have been carded tho

[DennosManCave]

What a brilliant tackle from Marika. How he covered that ground to make the tackle was impressive. Head down, arms ready to wrap the attacking player.

What made it look bad was the RSA player taking air just as Marika makes the lunge. Perfectly timed by the defending player.

[craigminnie]

Guys the ref was shocking but we never pitched up for this game .10 penalties in their 22 and we couldn't get any points .

[nelsonbenjamin]

He did that on purpose what a disgrace rugby is becoming like soccer now?

[kiwiyasss]

The Paul Williams call against SA with that scrum 5m from the line was ridiculous!!

[richardmarshall]

Nigel Owens take on the Koroibete tackle:

On the Koroibete challenge that prevented Mapimpi from scoring, Owens said: “I have looked at it many times and I’m finding it difficult to see this as anything but an illegal tackle by Koroibete. To me, he leads with his shoulder and his arm is tucked down by his side. There’s not an attempt to wrap.

“He’s gone in with shoulder first and it should be a penalty and a yellow card. You are probably looking at a penalty try as well. It’s not the type of tackle we should be seeing in the game.”

Curiously, there was no full TMO review of the incident, thus allowing the Australian to get away with murder and depriving the Boks of a try.

“To me, that is a complete disaster. The referee on the field needs to make these decisions. This shouldn’t even be a TMO glancing at this and making a decision. The referee has to look at something like this and make the decision himself.”

[Dunnerstunner]

As a neutral fan, one of the best tackles I have seen. He jumped for the line and got smoked. No harm done. We should be celebrating this as fans.

[brianworth]

Remember the "good old days" when the stars were the players, and hardly anyone knew, or cared, who the ref was! Now they try to milk the limelight and make a huge big deal out of being a "professional" ref. They should be held accountable, like true professionals.

[videosofnikinaksthebusyafr]

I have absolutely no doubt that if it was the Boks who tackled an Australian player like Mapimpi was tackled, it would have been a red card.

[Reformed-ec]

Fair hit to me. Mapimpi tried to jump while running with ball in hand. Different from contesting.

[martinkosciuk]

That’s totally legal tackle ! A beautiful tackle . The way rugby should be played . Australia played with her heart ! and they show it with that tackle, congratulation for Australia !!!

[yootoooob]

Kolisi needs to be more demanding on the field or the refs will keep gettin away with this

[southafricanplebgamer]

Granted we didn't play a great game of Rugby today but the above shows a second game in a row where calls the Ref made directly impacted our games in serious ways. I think before the world cup next year every ref needs a recap on the rules of the game.