MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Debate continued Sunday on a hemispheric basis over the last-minute try and absence of a penalty that sealed the British and Irish Lions’ 29-26 win over Australia in the second test and a series victory with a match to spare.
From the Northern Hemisphere, Jac Morgan’s cleanout of Carlo Tizzano at the last breakdown Saturday was fair and perfectly executed. From the Southern Hemisphere, Morgan breached rugby’s law 9.20 by striking Tizzano above the shoulders which likely in most matches in the south would have been considered endangerment and would have been penalized.
While the Lions woke with the sore heads of celebrants, the Wallabies were left to brood over what might have been.
Australia coach Joe Schmidt was emphatic after the match that Italian referee Andrea Piardi had erred in not penalizing Morgan and ruling out the last-minute try to Hugo Keenan which prevented the Wallabies from leveling the series.
Piardi and his assistant referees closely studied replays of the final ruck before waving away the entreaties of Wallabies captain Harry Wilson and awarding the try. In explanation, Piardi said Tizzano and Morgan had arrived at the ruck at the same time and their collision was part of the normal rough and tumble of the game.
“You just have to read law 9.20 and I guess you just have to listen to the description from the referee and then watch the vision,” Schmidt told a news conference after the match. “When two players are described as arriving at the same time, just watch the footage.
“Players make errors. Match officials make errors. Our perspective is we felt it was a decision that doesn’t really live up to the big player safety push that they’re talking about. You cannot hit someone above the level of the shoulders and there’s no wrapping with the left arm, the hands on the ground. That’s what we’ve seen, and we’ve watched a number of replays from different angles. It is what it is. We just have to accept it.”
From the northern perspective, Morgan makes contact with Tizzano below the neck and shoulders. It was, Lions coach Andy Farrell said “brilliant”.
Some Lions fans even went as far as to accuse Tizzano of “simulation,” by trying to exaggerate the incident to influence the referee.
“I thought it was a brilliant clear-out, honestly, didn’t you? It depends on what side of the fence you come from,” Farrell said.
“I thought it was a good clear-out live. I couldn’t understand what they were going back for. They seem to go back for everything these days. But I’m so pleased that the referee held his nerve. It was the right decision in my opinion.
“I can understand people’s opinions.”
Wallabies and Lions fans clashed on social media long after the crowd of more than 90,000 fans — the most ever to watch the Lions — had left the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Fans from the north and south agreed only that this had been one of the great test matches and most memorable of rugby occasions.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
