“The Chatham House Rule applies,” said our very welcoming and humorous Master of Ceremonies. Those assembled then settled down for lunch, but not before they’d raised the roof with a rousing rendition of the “Holy City” hymn. The ‘Rule’ is a very valuable tool, allowing debated issues to be discussed after the event, but not to be attributed to any speaker. So, here goes, some thoughts from true rugby supporters.
There was a lot of chat about the recent statements by Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus. Essentially, Nienaber has told us that he misses the Springbok set-up, and Erasmus has basically said that he would welcome him back with open arms. Whenever he does return, he will do so with a heck of a lot of inside information; it’s unavoidable, and, actually, perfectly normal. It’s simply an inevitable consequence of coaches moving clubs.
Nienaber has wisely made a further statement, confirming his total commitment to Leinster until his contract concludes, which is in May 2027, less than six months out from the World Cup. There was no animosity towards the coach in the debate, which centred only around the date of his departure.
The consensus was, given the totality of the statements, that it would be better to amicably advance the departure to the end of this season. One interesting suggestion was that when Nienaber does go, then maybe Leinster get Irishman Jerry Flannery, who is currently doing a fine job with the South African defence.
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Inevitably, the scrum was the subject of debate. Well, not so much debate, rather heartfelt frustration and annoyance. Everybody is fed up to the back teeth with what is going on. Added to the long, long delays as the TMO finds reasons to call up the referee, the view was that the scrum has to be fixed - it is ruining the game. It has become something which was never intended, laced with result-altering penalties. Surely, in World Rugby, there is someone who is prepared to take out the tool box.
The issue raised its ugly head again in several matches over the weekend, including Leinster’s match against a very weak Harlequins team. They left their star international players at home, which doesn’t say much for the integrity of the tournament. Leinster were very indifferent, until they eventually pulled away. But things will have to improve greatly if they are going to make a realistic challenge for the trophy.
Referee Craig Evans did everything in his power to get the scrums to behave. He spent the evening penalising, free-kicking, resetting, and verbally cajoling the two packs, without ever finding a solution. It was nigh on an impossible task - are people really happy to fork out their well-earned dosh to watch this carry-on?
Evans has shown some improvement recently, and doesn’t take too much time reviewing replays before making his decision. His call to award a deliberate knock-on penalty try to ‘Quins was right on the money, even though Jamison Gibson-Park and Garry Ringrose were covering. The reality was that it was improbable that they’d succeed in their mission, so therefore it was probable a try would have been scored. We have seen penalty tries incorrectly not given for this very type of unlikely cover, so I’m totally with the referee on this one.
[ Jacques Nienaber rejects questions over his commitment to LeinsterOpens in new window ]
With the scrums having been flushed away, the lineout is in real danger of following. It is not far from becoming an unstructured shambles. Munster are not alone in standing off the lineout until just before the throw. Players are supposed to line up without delay, and, yet, the referees are being unwisely tolerant. All of the very recent ills in this set-piece are easy to remedy. But it needs to be done before it all becomes a nasty habit, as has happened at scrum-time.
Very shortly, Ronan O’Gara and La Rochelle chairman Vincent Merling will face a disciplinary hearing. O’Gara was incensed when a leaping Antoine Hastoy earned the fastest red card (34 seconds) in Top 14 history; it was courtesy of his raised foot into the face of an opponent in their recent match against Pau. O’Gara suggested that the referee was influenced by the sight of the resultant blood.
Ironically, on Saturday, there was a similar, if not as dangerous, boot by Leicester’s George Pearson into La Rochelle’s Davit Niniashvili. It rightly earned yellow from referee Andy Brace. Pearson actually was upended, by Niniavishili, before he landed, so a second card would not have gone astray. Some claim that it’s a reflexive rebalancing movement by the catcher when he is in the air, so clarification is needed. With defenders now having to ensure that the catcher is accessible, rebalancing might become quite the fashion.
It’s difficult to know how much the seriousness of an injury might influence the judiciary. Each case is reviewed on its merits, there’s no formula. We all saw the completely intemperate look on Eben Etzebeth’s face as he delivered his thumb into the eye of Wales’ Alex Mann, who was not accused of a similar provoking act. With just 90 seconds left, and South Africa in front by 73-0, it’s impossible to understand the egregious act. The judiciary are understandably slow to conclude that foul play actions are intentional, but in this case they did, and suspended the player for 12 matches. Enough? Not in my opinion, and not for many others who spoke to me about it.
And here’s where the injury-influence issue comes in. It was a piece of good fortune that Mann’s eyeball was not ruptured, blood streaming. Had that happened, the South African lock would surely have been looking at a far longer suspension. But there was no blood, and Etzebeth rode his luck.
[ Eben Etzebeth’s suspension is lenient for such a repugnant offenceOpens in new window ]
