Rugby World Cup 2023 referee review: Boot-to-face red card and ball-to-head try

ANALYSIS: The second round of pool play at the Rugby World Cup is done, and the judiciary is becoming a busier place.

After just one hearing through the first lot of eight games, there are three to take place early this week (before any potential additions from Monday morning’s [NZ time] three games).

Remember, any player who receives a red card is automatically summoned to front an independent judicial committee, as well as any others cited post-match for red-card standard incidents.

While most of these charges typically come as a result of dangerous tackles, and World Rugby’s clamp-down on head contact, there was a particularly quirky one at the weekend.

In what was Portugal’s first World Cup game since their only other appearance at the global showpiece in 2007, a boot-to-face brought back memories of a Bledisloe Cup incident two years ago.

Wales v Portugal, 77th minute, Vincent Pinto (Portugal) red card

In what was a gutsy showing from the Portugese in their loss to the Welsh in Nice on Sunday (NZ time), the match was all-but-decided (21-8, and finishing 28-8), but ended on a rough red-card note.

Going up to take a high kick, Portugal winger Vincent Pinto successfully collected the ball, but as he came back down, his outstretched right leg went into the face of Wales replacement winger Josh Adams.

Fortunately for Pinto, he ended up landing safely enough, when it looked like he may get tipped on his head, though Adams was left distressed after copping the blow to the eye.

Referee Karl Dickson (England), after getting some input from assistant referee Andrea Piardi (Italy), then asked TMO Marius Jonker (South Africa) to get involved.

Dickson asked aloud, “Do we see that as an un-natural position for the foot?”

After his mandatory couple of replays allowed to view on the big screen to determine whether the act met the yellow-card threshold for foul play, Dickson indeed decided it had.

The bunker (another of the World Cup TMOs, based at Roland Garros) then has eight minutes to decide if the yellow should stand, or be upgraded to a red card, and with play going into the 83rd minute, Dickson was given the call to wave the red, just before Wales kicked the game-finishing conversion.

But was Pinto really at fault here?

In his judiciary charge he was deemed to have broken Law 9.11 (Foul play – Dangerous play): Players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others.

On World Rugby’s video on their website explaining their disciplinary process, ‘reckless’ means“the player knew, or should have known, that there was a risk of committing an act of foul play, but carried on anyway”.

If the foul play was instead deemed an accident, there is no punishment.

It will be interesting to see how Portugal get on if they opt to contest the charge.

To this eye, with Pinto’s leg not bent and powering into a kicking motion, and rather straight the whole time, as well as his eyes not even looking at Adams, it does not look reckless, and Adams was running the risk of getting hit in the face by being that close to the jumper.

While the All Blacks No 15 was sent off for his boot hitting Wallabies winger Marika Koroibete in the face, he then had his red card overturned at the judiciary.

In fact, in Barrett’s case, his leg even flicked out, with far more force than Pinto’s contact.

The Sanzaar judicial committee chair noted in his findings for that one that “when in trying to regain his balance on the downward trajectory, his boot inadvertently made contact with his opponent’s head”.

So Pinto and Portugal surely have a decent shot at a successful over-turn.

England v Japan, 56th minute, England try from falcon

Mark this one down as an early contender for weirdest try of the tournament.

England went on to beat Japan 34-12 in Nice on Monday (NZT), and with the match evenly poised at 13-12 midway through the second spell, England flanker Courtney Lawes strolled over for the easiest of five-pointers.

That was because Japan’s defenders stopped in their tracks after a ball spilled forward in midfield and bounced into the arms of Lawes.

Remember the one drilled into youngsters – ‘Always play to the whistle’? Well, coach Jamie Joseph would have had right to be furious at his players’ inaction, after the ball was found to not have been a knock on after all.

It, instead, bounced off the head of England prop Joe Marler.

World Rugby’s definition of a knock on confirms the head is not counted: When a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.

For what it’s worth, the arm includes the shoulder – a clear example coming in the 50th minute of France’s win over Uruguay on Friday (NZT), when the hosts had a try ruled out.

Here, with the ‘falcon’, referee Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) was spot-on in his on-field ruling of ‘try’, when he enlisted the help of TMO Joy Neville (Ireland) to confirm via big-screen replays.

There were still a couple of things to check, though.

Before hitting the head of Marler, the pass from first-five George Ford was first touched by prop Will Stuart. However, with the ball travelling backwards off his hand, it was play on.

The officials then had to make sure Lawes did not come from an offside position (in front of Marler) to play the ball. Had it been Stuart picking it up, it would have been a penalty against him.

But all was kosher. It’s not everyday props can claim try assists, let alone with their melons.

New Zealand v Namibia, 16th minute, Samisoni Taukei’aho (New Zealand) try ruled out

It looked as regulation as they come, as the All Blacks went over for a rolling maul try post-lineout early in Saturday’s (NZT) 71-3 rout of Namibia in Toulouse.

However, hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho’s score was scrubbed by referee Luke Pearce (England) after eagle-eyed TMO Brian MacNeice (Ireland) spotted a technical infringement at the lineout by the men in black.

Asked by Pearce to then put it on the big screen, the whistler was able to also then identify the obstruction.

Brodie Retallick had gone up and claimed the lineout ball, but on landing and forming the maul, his lifters – Ofa Tuungafasi and Sam Whitelock – got themselves in front of him.

That’s a no-no under World Rugby’s law 9.3 (Foul play – Obstruction): A player must not intentionally prevent an opponent from tackling or attempting to tackle the ball-carrier.

While a maul could be considered a form of organised obstruction in itself anyway, there is still a correct way it has to form.

There at least has to be a chance given to the defending team of being able to initially get at the ball carrier, rather than having team-mates blocking their path, so Tuungafasi and Whitelock instead needed to bind beside or behind Retallick.

Of course, in a thumping win this was never going to have a material impact, but it would have at least given forwards coach Jason Ryan an area to keep his players honest, because just imagine if that was pulled up in one of their big matches down the track.