Ireland huffed and they puffed, and eventually the Italian house blew down.
When Luke Pearce’s whistle brought Roman matters to a conclusion Ireland would have felt nothing but sheer relief. In a dismal performance they just about made it. The ever present danger of the Italians breaking out for a match-winning score existed until the finish. The magical Ange Capuozzo very nearly did just that, and if he’d managed an intercept Ireland, lacking serious pace, would not have caught him.
As they trudged back to the dressingroom the home team must have been frustrated, annoyed that they had done some blowing of their own as in a great chance of a famous victory. In fact were it not for the Italians making frequent use of the self-destruct button they would probably have had good reason to order in several crates of celebratory prosecco. Spending 30 minutes with only 14 players was not in the match plan, and coach Gonzalo Quesada is bound to be furious.
Are Ireland only Europe’s third best team?
Ireland did manage four tries, and will also have legitimate questions about two other key moments which were bungled by the officials. Firstly, James Ryan, having caught an awkward ball, was twisting for the line when he was tackled by Italian prop Danilo Fischetti, who used his knees to do so. That was foul play and very much in penalty try territory.
Owen Doyle: Italy had a great chance to beat Ireland but they hit the self-destruct button
Gerry Thornley: It’s staring us in the face, this Ireland team is simply not what it was
Gerry Thornley’s Six Nations Team of the Tournament: Three Irish players make the cut
Are Ireland only Europe’s third best team?
The TMO, Andrew Jackson, asked several times if the referee was happy with Fischetti’s actions, but Pearce didn’t seem to get the point. He dealt with this incident with yet more nonsensical, supercilious smiling, which we were forced to endure throughout the afternoon. Good natured humour definitely has its place, but this was a serious moment. More than anything it needed total considered concentration, which I don’t believe it got.
Next Hugo Keenan’s disallowed try came along. Miraculously James Lowe had kept his feet in play, mere centimetres away from the whitewash, before a brilliant pass inside for the score. The obvious decision for the assistant, Morne Ferreira, was not to make one at all but allow play to continue, then get the TMO involved after the touchdown, standard practice.
However while a whistle stops play a flag does not. So it all boils down to whether or not Pearce had blown his whistle before or after Keenan touched down. It seemed to me that the whistle came afterwards, in which case the logical decision was to award the try.
Inevitably consternation followed. Italy claimed that they had stopped playing – which they had not and there were genuine attempts to halt Keenan. They should also know what we are all taught from the first moment we pick up a ball, “play to the whistle.” Ireland, of course, wanted the try, and Lowe understandably was tearing his hair out.
From all of the evidence we’ve seen it was indeed a try to Ireland. My view is that Pearce erred badly in leaving this terribly tight decision completely with the TMO, neither did he appear to consult Ferreira. The referee needed to put more personal effort into this crucial call and review the replays for himself. After all that is what we often see happening in similar situations. Both this and the Ryan incident were handled poorly. If Ireland had lost there would have been hell to pay, and I’ll bet not a hint of a gratuitous smile.
Most of all what kept the prosecco corks firmly in their bottles was the extraordinary ill-discipline of the home team. Michele Lamaro arrived from the bench only to knock the ball out of Jamison Gibson-Park’s hands. It was a stupid, senseless rush of blood, akin to Joe McCarthy’s yellow card against France. Pearce had not seen it, but suspecting that something was amiss, wanted a second look for himself. That was in exceptionally sharp contrast with what he would not do later in the Lowe-Keenan incident.
Dangerous tackling saw two Italian players sent to the bunker. Ross Vintcent slammed head on head into Hugo Keenan, it was correctly upgraded to red. The world and his wife knew that this would be the outcome, but the straight red card, delivered by the referee, is a thing of the past. The referees seem very happy to wash their hands of red card decisions, which is also the intention of the whole idea.
With Italy pressing hard in the late stages there was more folly to come. This time Giacomo Nicotera struck hard into Peter O’Mahoney’s head, and off went the Italian, a second red for his team.
In Paris there was another assault. It was not a tackle situation, but a very dangerous headbutt by France’s Peato Mauvaka on Scotland’s Ben White, who was on the ground at the time. Again it went to the bunker, manned on the day by Englishman Ian Tempest. The offence stayed at yellow, an unacceptable call. Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has every right to be angry about it, and he has not been slow to say so. Townsend refers to a systems failure, and nobody can argue with his conclusions.
Based on what we’re seeing the 20 minute red card is not a sufficient deterrent. World Rugby continuously tell us that player safety is their fundamental priority, whereas what they are really trying to do is to balance safety with spectacle. An impossible high-risk task.
Furthermore this trial was supposed to be accompanied by longer, more rigorous suspensions. But while the 20-minute red card was cherry-picked by the Six Nations the suspension proposals, conveniently, were dumped. Should we be surprised? Not at all.
