Two decisions, one verdict
Nigel Owens has made up his mind. In the latest edition of Whistle Watch, the former Welsh referee reviewed the two flashpoint moments from the fourth Test between the Springboks and the All Blacks, won 43-28 by South Africa in Baltimore. That result sealed the series 3-1 for Rassie Erasmus’ side.
Both incidents came in the second half, and both went South Africa’s way. English referee Karl Dickson has been picked over ever since. Owens, who handled more than 100 Test matches before hanging up the whistle, says Dickson got both calls right.
The first incident came in the 55th minute, with South Africa leading 29-14. Cam Roigard snaffled the ball from Pieter-Steph du Toit, raced clear, nudged it forward towards the line, then was bundled into touch by Morne van den Berg before he could chase his own kick.
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Offside first, everything else after
Asked by Jamie Roberts whether New Zealand should have been awarded a penalty try, Owens brushed it aside. In his view, the scrum-half was offside before he even played the ball at the breakdown.
“The first offence is his offside. Everything after that is irrelevant,” he said. He added that even without the off-the-ball tackle, a penalty try still would not have been given, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu getting back in cover. A penalty 15 metres out for the All Blacks and a likely yellow card for Van den Berg, and that was about it.
The second moment came eight minutes from time, with the score at 29-21. Damian McKenzie found Josh Moorby, who spilled the ball in contact with Cameron Hanekom. Kurt-Lee Arendse pounced and raced away to score the try that ended the argument. Dickson awarded it after a video review.
The downside of video
It is on that second call that Owens is at his most revealing. He admits he hesitated on first viewing before leaning on the standard of clear and obvious.
“If I’d refereed that match, it wouldn’t have been clear and obvious to me and I’d probably have let it go,” he said. Then he pointed to what he sees as the downside of technology: slow it down enough and everyone finds something to argue about, even when the whole move happened in a split second.
The verdict stays the same. Right call, referee backed. But the comment about slow motion says plenty about where the debate around officiating sits in international rugby.
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