World Rugby hits back at Joe Schmidt over criticism of controversial decision in second Lions Test
Wallabies boss Schmidt accused the officials of not fully considering player welfare when deciding not to penalise Jac Morgan for a clearout on Carlo Tizzano in the move that led to Hugo Keenan's series-securing score at the MCG.
The incident has provoked significant debate online subsequently with the rugby world split on a moment that again illustrated the shades of grey within the game's lawbook, particularly around the ruck area.
World Rugby have confirmed that Piardi and the officials have been reviewing the game both amongst themselves and in combination with coaches from both teams, as is standard after any international clash.
They will not, however, be releasing the outcome of any of those discussions publicly as they bid to protect their referees and avoid a repeat of the abuse suffered by Nic Berry after the first Test in South Africa. Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was given a ban and apologised to Berry after a video was leaked in which he criticised the decision-making of the referee, which the Australian official said had threatened his reputation.
Wayne Barnes, meanwhile, faced death threats after taking charge of the 2023 Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand, which the Springboks won 12-11.
Schmidt will not face a sanction for his comments but Alan Gilpin, the chief executive of World Rugby, felt they were misplaced and that the game must continue to support officials.
'I think it is disappointing when the reaction is one of, 'this means player welfare isn't taken seriously', because we have worked really hard on that narrative,' Gilpin said. 'Everyone knows we are putting player welfare, in its broadest sense, at the top of the agenda. You can see that from what we are doing with the instrumented mouthguards, all the research, the science, the investigations.
'You'll all recall, three years ago in the last Lions series in South Africa, when the match official in the first test was very heavily criticised, the mental health challenges. [Former referee] Wayne Barnes has talked about it – we've got match officials who, when they're criticised publicly, having their families targeted outside the school gates, that's not good, that's not fair, and that's not right, so we've got to support these guys.
'We won't talk publicly about that decision. The decision's happened, the game's finished, we'll move on, we'll share, and we do share, with Joe and the coaching team why the match official's made that decision. Joe's got a view about what was wrong with that decision making, and there'll be a debate between them about that, so that Joe and his players can go into the next Test, understanding how that game's going to be officiated.'
Gilpin has talked to Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh, who had also questioned the decision, with the pair both present in Sydney at the launch of ticketing packages for the 2027 Rugby World Cup which will be held Down Under.
The Morgan and Tizzano incident has led to discussions about how the sport may be simplified, with the high intensity, complex contacts around the ruck area an area of concern.
'We are reviewing the way the game is officiated and played all the time,' Gilpin explained.
'You know, we do an annual shape of the game conference that includes players, coaches, high-performance experts, match officials, fan input, broadcaster input, so all of that is a concern, but if we oversimplify rugby, it wouldn't be rugby, right?
'The breakdown is one of the toughest areas. We know that. We'll continue to work really hard with the match officials group to get consistency in the way that those key areas are officiated, and that provides, hopefully, the clarity to players and coaches. But like in any high-level sport, coaches are always looking for the edge with their teams, and we respect that.'
Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli, who was an assistant to Piardi in Melbourne, will be in charge of the third Test in Sydney this weekend.
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