Six Nations 2021: England vs Wales referee admits making TWO blunders in Red Rose’s controversial loss
REFEREE Pascal Gauzere has admitted making two ‘unfortunate’ blunders during England’s 40-24 defeat to Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
The result ended the reigning champions’ hopes of retaining their title this year.
But Wales‘ first two tries were mired in controversy.
England were left furious when ref Gauzere, 43, told skipper Owen Farrell to get his team together to warn them over their discipline, only to allow Wales to take their penalty just moments later.
As Dan Biggar kicked to set up an easy try, England’s players were clearly not set, with water carriers even still on the pitch.
But Farrell’s complaints fell on deaf ears, with Gauzere refusing to consult the TMO.
The Frenchman instead shut down Farrell’s subsequent complaints, with SunSport’s resident former England international Nick Easter labelling his behaviour as ‘disgraceful, obnoxious and dismissive’.
Gauzere also missed a knock on by Louis Rees-Zammit in the build-up to Liam Williams’ try shortly after.
Speaking to Midi Olympique, World Rugby’s head of match officials Joel Jutge revealed that Gauzere admitted his errors to him on the phone after the game.
He said: “I think we have to be transparent and rather than let things get worse, we should say what we think.
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“In that match, there were two unfortunate incidents that weren’t simple to manage. Pascal Gauzere admitted as much himself on the phone to me on Sunday morning.
“From the time when the referee says ‘time on’, the game can resume, but it was down to him to ensure that England had had enough time to reorganise themselves because he was the one who’d asked the captain to address his players.”
On the second error Jutge was more philosophical, pointing out the way in which video technology has changed how people view officiating.
He continued: “The Wales winger did not have the ball under control and it fell forwards on to his thigh.
“This notion of losing control doesn’t appear in the current laws, which is why the situation lends itself to confusion. The reality is that if he’d blown up for a knock-on for that, nobody would’ve had an issue with it.
Pascal watched it back on Sunday morning and he’s the first person to admit that
Joel Jutge
“This is one of the strange effects of TMO, as there’s sometimes a tendency to look at too many things under the microscope.
“You have to strike the right balance and a simple decision involving common sense would have sufficed in this case.
“There was a loss of control and the ball went forwards, so it was a knock-on. Pascal watched it back on Sunday morning and he’s the first person to admit that.
“This doesn’t take anything away from the fact that he remains an excellent international referee.”
England next host title contenders France in 12 days time, while Wales travel to whipping boys Italy.