Latest news with #Brousset
Irish Times
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Owen Doyle: The laws of the game are clear - Leinster should have had a penalty try
So. What the hell happened? Let's have a look. Leinster v Northampton. The Aviva stadium clock was ticking down fast, just a minute or so was left in the Champions Cup semi-final. Then, out of the blue, Leinster went wide, and suddenly Josh van der Flier was charging towards the line, for the winning score, or so we all thought. What followed left French referee Pierre Brousset with one of the trickiest decisions he'll ever have faced. The more it was replayed, the more complex it seemed to become. There were a lot of ingredients in this particular dish. First, let's clear a couple of things up. If the ball hits the corner flag/post it is not out of play − it used to be aeons ago, but not anymore. Secondly, Ross Byrne's 'touch down' could not be considered as he was off his feet. And lastly, while penalty tries are normally accompanied by a yellow card, not all yellows are penalty tries. READ MORE Van der Flier was bowled over short of the line, it was within reaching distance. Brousset penalised and carded Northampton's Alex Coles for not releasing the Leinster man, so he must have deemed Coles as a tackler, which is one thing he certainly was not. But, crucially, he did not award a penalty try. I believe that he should have, here's my reasoning. The players wait patiently as Pierre Brousset considers his vital late decision. Photograph:What mattered here occurred when Coles went to ground onto van der Flier. That is specifically and sensibly covered in the law bible. It outlaws an opponent from falling on a ball carrier who is on the ground. It is expressly forbidden. Otherwise, van der Flier could very probably have reached out and scored. Probability is the key factor for awarding a penalty try, and that would have been the correct call. If Brousset had started at the beginning as he considered the events, who knows, he might well have come up with the right answer. While many are boiling the result down to this one decision, Northampton could question, if they were bothered, the validity of a first-half try by the ubiquitous van der Flier. Max Deegan was tackled, but remained in possession. A tackled player must immediately place the ball on the ground, or pass it, no delay. However, it looked as if Deegan did delay his pass to van der Flier with a feinting movement, which prevented Northampton contesting possession. Not nearly on the same scale as the van der Flier incident, but the score could have been ruled out. Leinster's Josh van der Flier scores a try that could easily have been ruled out by the officials. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho 'But the best team won,' is often how the argument goes, which it did, but that argument doesn't stand up in the professional game, so Brousset stands accountable. There were reasons which contributed to Leinster's loss, and these have been well documented in this paper by Gerry Thornley . Overall, Leinster played second fiddle in just about every section of the orchestra, with the pack being far too late to tune in. The key battle at half-back was all too easily won by the excellent Northampton duo of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith − they didn't miss a beat. The much-lauded Jacques Nienaber defence was holed frequently below the waterline, and the Leinster ship was listing badly as the clocked ominously ticked down. Leaking five tries was a disaster for what we've been persuaded to believe is a near infallible defensive system. Clearly, it is not. No doubt social media will give Brousset a horrible time of it. In all matches there are queries around some scrum and breakdown calls, but overall he was fair and equitable. But the referee will be remembered, and judged, on just one moment, a moment which could not have had greater importance. Some will argue that it shouldn't have come down to just one incident, but the problem is that it did. It definitely did. Ireland's Andrew Brace gave a fine performance in the Champions Cup semi-final betweem Stade Toulousain and Bordeaux-Begles. Photograph:A very sunny Bordeaux saw a wonderful match with the home team stealing an unexpected march on Toulouse, so both favourites have gone. The scoreline of 35-18 did not reflect the effort of the champions to keep their grip on the trophy. Ireland's Andrew Brace was in charge, and had a good day out. He was much more assured in his communication, and there was less of it too. Of course, I can question a few forward pass calls, one particularly bad one, which probably came from his assistant. And did he get all the breakdown decisions right? No, indeed he didn't, but we all know that's an impossibility. So, in the land of the vine, I hope that a relaxed Brace enjoyed an evening glass or two of Bordeaux's finest. The semi-final results mean that the old guard has gone for this year, the destination of the Champions Cup will now be between Northampton and Bordeaux. The former won the cup 25 years ago, pipping Munster by a solitary point, then lost to the famous Leinster comeback in 2011. The French team have never got close to this stage. Both semi-final winners took the spoils by scoring five tries each and playing a fast, expansive game − we hope to see more of that in Cardiff. The final pairings of both cups dictate that English and French referees can't be considered, cutting down the appointment options for EPCR referee manager Tony Spreadbury. It underlines the unacceptable situation where Wales, Scotland and South Africa have nobody capable of refereeing at this level. There are only three referees in the frame. The Georgian Nika Amashukeli, Ireland's Andy Brace, and Andrea Piardi of Italy. So, although the conclusion to this year's tournament is a mouth-watering prospect, it will have a different taste. It's a crying shame, but Leinster won't be there.
Irish Times
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster battle sense of dismay in wake of defeat to Northampton
Leinster 's French prop Rabah Slimani was not alone in believing his countrymen, referee Pierre Brousset and TMO Tual Trainini, should have awarded Leinster a penalty try in the penultimate play of Saturday's Champions Cup semi-final. With the clock nearing the 79-minute mark, James Lowe passed to Josh van der Flier on Leinster's left wing and the openside was tackled short of the line by Tommy Freeman. When Van der Flier twisted around and attempted to reach out and score, he was tackled and had the ball ripped, illegally, from his hands by Northampton lock Alex Coles. The ball squirmed loose on to the Northampton try line where Ross Byrne reached out to touch the ball down. As Byrne was off his feet, he was not allowed to play the ball, although the officials did not appear to consider that. Leinster vs Northampton – the comeback final revisited Listen | 35:17 After several reviews in their dialogue, Trainini seems to have asked Brousset if Coles had illegally prevented Van der Flier from grounding the ball. READ MORE 'No, because he was short and he cannot move forward,' said Brousset. 'For me, it will be just a penalty. So it will be a yellow card against five [Coles]. Then we've got a knock-on and the ball touches the base [of the corner flag] so no try. Happy? I've got a decision.' Asked about his view of the incident afterwards, Slimani replied: 'I don't understand the decision because if it's a penalty and a yellow card, I don't know why it's not a try. But that's the ref's decision, he has his opinion but it's hard.' Slimani has had issues with Brousset's scrummaging interpretations in the past and declined to comment about his compatriot and the scrums. Another fault line in the Leinster performance was that their power game did not yield the same reward as in their previous 62-0 and 52-0 wins over Harlequins and Glasgow. Although their lineout maul did lead directly to one of Van der Flier's two tries, it struggled for traction from the off. 'Yeah, they stacked the front quite well,' admitted Leinster lock Joe McCarthy. 'They're good maul defenders in front and they were just effective getting through seams, and they were right on the edge. Henry Pollock of Northampton Saints breaks clear to score their second try during the Champions Cup semi-final match against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. Photograph:'See that they gave away a few penalties but it was probably smart by them, they didn't concede points and were happy to give away penalties 5m out. It was good by them. 'I was sort of in the second line, punching behind, and it was hard to get a good set-up. Like, usually it's clean going forward and we're firing on, but they were hitting us back.' McCarthy echoed the view of Slimani that it was one of the most disappointing defeats of his career and also that winning a first trophy in four seasons via the URC was now vital. 'I think it's hugely important. To win a bit of silverware would probably give a bit of confidence to the group, a bit of feel-good, because I think if you go again with no silverware there's a bit more pressure on, I don't know, maybe you doubt yourself a bit. We don't need outside pressure, there's a lot of pressure on ourselves to try to win a trophy, so we'll be gunning now for the URC 100 per cent.' The majority of the 42,207 Aviva crowd were given their first viewing of the new shooting star of English rugby in 20-year-old Henry Pollock. Aside from one stunning 50m try when he sliced through the Leinster fringe defence and took Sam Prendergast on the outside, he had a big hand in two other tries, won two turnovers and had the game's highest tackle count with 22. As free-spirited off the pitch as he is on it, Pollock said: 'These are the games you want to play in, these are the games that as a little kid, you look at and watch. Van der Flier and Doris are the best backrowers in the world at the minute and I was just excited and couldn't wait to get out there. I was buzzing in the changing rooms beforehand, buzzing all week. It is an honour to be able to share a pitch with them. 'I would say before the game, you probably look at the team sheet and go, 'wow, Jordie Barrett is playing' and it is pretty cool. On the pitch, you don't really think about it, it is muscle memory and it is your next action is the biggest one and it doesn't really matter who you are up against. 'At the end of the day, it is just the connection between the man inside and out of you and anything you can do for the team to make that positive ... I was just excited to go up against some of the best players in the world.'
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mad last minute of Northampton v Leinster dissected
With the result of Northampton's eventual victory over Leinster still in the balance, the Saints had to cling on during one of the most manic finishes to a match in the history of the Champions Cup. The reigning Premiership champions led by three points with just over a minute remaining as Leinster launched a final salvo on the Northampton line. The Saints, down to 14 players owing to a yellow card to flanker Josh Kemeny, were clinging on in the face of a barrage from a plethora of Irish internationals. The chance As the clock ticked, wing James Lowe sent his Ireland team-mate Josh van der Flier through a gap down the left flank. The flanker managed to get on the outside of Saints' Tom James before barrelling into Tommy Freeman. The England wing did enough – just – to halt Van der Flier just short of the line, but Leinster had all the momentum. rugby rugby The Northampton cavalry arrived, in the form of Alex Coles, Juarno Augustus and Angus Scott-Young. With Van der Flier on the floor, the ball squirted out to the left side of the tackle area, towards the touchline, and with scrum-half James retreating, Ross Byrne thought he had scored the winner in the corner as the ball trickled over the whitewash via the base of the corner flag. rugby rugby rugby The decision It was chaos. Advertisement Referee Pierre Brousset, at the end of one of the most seismic matches this competition had ever seen, would have been within his rights to have looked completely exasperated. Brousset called 'time off' and went upstairs to his television match official. The on-field decision – which is incredibly important – was 'no try', but both Brousset and the TMO were interested in the actions of Coles as the ball squirted from the ruck. rugby Swiftly, the duo had decided that Coles's actions were illegal. He was an assist tackler and he played the ball on the floor. That part, in the maelstrom, was straightforward. Advertisement Next, the duo had to judge whether Byrne had actually managed to score a legal try – in essence, whether the ball had hit the touchline – or if Van der Flier had also knocked on of his own accord. Brousset and his TMO came to the conclusion that there was a hint of a knock-on from both Van der Flier and Byrne before the latter touched the ball down over the line. The ball also hits the base of the corner flag which, in itself, is not in touch. However, Brousset gave his on-field call as 'no try' and, therefore, the evidence to overturn that decision had to be conclusive. Although there was a chance that Byrne had scored, the evidence certainly was not incontrovertible. Had Brousset opted for an on-field 'try' call to start with, Byrne's score had more chance of being awarded. There was also the question of whether Byrne had ever been on his feet before grounding the ball, which the officials did not get to – and they did not really have to. Jack Conan questioned Brousset as to why it was not a penalty try and the Frenchman explained that it was because Van der Flier had been stopped short of the line. Coles, subsequently, was sent to the sin-bin. rugby Leinster, still three points behind, tapped a penalty five metres out – the same manner in which they had scored two earlier tries – but Augustus stripped Conan in the carry. Northampton ran down the final 30 seconds before Fin Smith booted the ball out for a famous victory. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Mad last minute of Northampton v Leinster dissected
With the result of Northampton's eventual victory over Leinster still in the balance, the Saints had to cling on during one of the most manic finishes to a match in the history of the Champions Cup. The reigning Premiership champions led by three points with just over a minute remaining as Leinster launched a final salvo on the Northampton line. The Saints, down to 14 players owing to a yellow card to flanker Josh Kemeny, were clinging on in the face of a barrage from a plethora of Irish internationals. The chance As the clock ticked, wing James Lowe sent his Ireland team-mate Josh van der Flier through a gap down the left flank. The flanker managed to get on the outside of Saints' Tom James before barrelling into Tommy Freeman. The England wing did enough – just – to halt Van der Flier just short of the line, but Leinster had all the momentum. The Northampton cavalry arrived, in the form of Alex Coles, Juarno Augustus and Angus Scott-Young. With Van der Flier on the floor, the ball squirted out to the left side of the tackle area, towards the touchline, and with scrum-half James retreating, Ross Byrne thought he had scored the winner in the corner as the ball trickled over the whitewash via the base of the corner flag. The decision It was chaos. Referee Pierre Brousset, at the end of one of the most seismic matches this competition had ever seen, would have been within his rights to have looked completely exasperated. Brousset called 'time off' and went upstairs to his television match official. The on-field decision – which is incredibly important – was 'no try', but both Brousset and the TMO were interested in the actions of Coles as the ball squirted from the ruck. Swiftly, the duo had decided that Coles's actions were illegal. He was an assist tackler and he played the ball on the floor. That part, in the maelstrom, was straightforward. Next, the duo had to judge whether Byrne had actually managed to score a legal try – in essence, whether the ball had hit the touchline – or if Van der Flier had also knocked on of his own accord. Brousset and his TMO came to the conclusion that there was a hint of a knock-on from both Van der Flier and Byrne before the latter touched the ball down over the line. The ball also hits the base of the corner flag which, in itself, is not in touch. However, Brousset gave his on-field call as 'no try' and, therefore, the evidence to overturn that decision had to be conclusive. Although there was a chance that Byrne had scored, the evidence certainly was not incontrovertible. Had Brousset opted for an on-field 'try' call to start with, Byrne's score had more chance of being awarded. There was also the question of whether Byrne had ever been on his feet before grounding the ball, which the officials did not get to – and they did not really have to. Jack Conan questioned Brousset as to why it was not a penalty try and the Frenchman explained that it was because Van der Flier had been stopped short of the line. Coles, subsequently, was sent to the sin-bin. Leinster, still three points behind, tapped a penalty five metres out – the same manner in which they had scored two earlier tries – but Augustus stripped Conan in the carry. Northampton ran down the final 30 seconds before Fin Smith booted the ball out for a famous victory.
The 42
28-04-2025
- Sport
- The 42
French referee Pierre Brousset to take charge of Leinster's Champions Cup semi against Saints
FRANCE'S PIERRE BROUSSET has been appointed as the referee for Leinster's Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton on Saturday. Brousset, who this year also made his Six Nations bow, will be officiating his first Champions Cup semi-final as Leinster host the Saints at the Aviva Stadium. The 36-year-old refereed Leinster's last-16 victory over Harlequins at Croke Park earlier this month. Advertisement Brousset was once the youngest referee in the French Top 14 but has been entrusted with Test rugby responsibilities in recent seasons. While an injury ruled him out of the 2024 Six Nations, he went on to officiate in last year's Rugby Championship and Autumn Nations Series before taking charge of this year's Calcutta Cup meeting between England and Scotland at Twickenham. Brousset will be assisted at the Aviva by compatriot Luc Ramos and Italy's Gianluca Gnecchi, while Tual Trainini of France will be the TMO. Irish referee Andrew Brace will be the man in the middle for Sunday's Champions Cup semi between top seeds Bordeaux Bègles and reigning champions Toulouse at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux. Limerick man Eoghan Cross will assist Brace alongside England's Christophe Ridley, while Scotland's Mike Adamson will be on TMO duties. Irish referee Andrew Brace. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO The EPCR have also confirmed that that, for the first time in the Champions Cup, referees' decisions will be broadcast over the stadium PA systems. Supporters in Dublin and Bordeaux will be able to hear the real-time discussions and reasoning behind decisions made between the referee and the TMO. This will again be the case for both the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals in Cardiff next month. Referee microphones are already broadcast into stadiums during international fixtures, including in the Six Nations, and are currently being trialled in both the URC and English Premiership. Tony Spreadbury, the EPCR's head of match officials, said: 'Allowing fans to hear how decisions are made on the pitch will enhance the matchday experience and help educate spectators in real time. 'It's an exciting step towards making the game more accessible to newcomers, and we're thrilled to introduce this feature during such a pivotal stage of the competition.'
