England rugby unfairly punished during Six Nations defeat: Top ref calls for change
ENGLAND fell foul of a law that punishes teams to harshly in their defeat to France in the Six Nations, according to former referee Jonathan Kaplan.
France vs England was delicately poised at 9-9 just after half-time when the home side kicked the ball wide and it fell to Benjamin Fall, who looked certain to score.
But full-back Anthony Watson made an apparently sensational last-gasp tackle to deny the French the opening try of the game.
However, referee Jaco Peyper refereed the tackle to the TMO, who recommended that the tackle be penalised for its high and dangerous nature, a decision that saw France awarded a penalty try and Watson sent to the sin bin, taking with him England’s hopes of retaining the Six Nations.
And while Kaplan, who served as an official at four Rugby World Cups before retiring in 2013, reckons England were something of a victim.
“Peyper had no choice. He had to award a penalty try and send Watson to the sin-bin,” Kaplan wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.
“To me, that double punishment is too strong.
“Watson was making a genuine attempt to make a tackle, and as Fall was diving for the line it was extremely difficult to stop him without hitting him high.
“With the rules as they are at present it is almost impossible to succeed with a last-ditch tackle of that nature without giving away a penalty try and also receiving a yellow or red card.
“There is no easy way for the authorities to resolve that issue, but to start with I would like them to allow referees more discretion over whether a yellow card must automatically follow a penalty try.
“Under the laws Peyper had to show Watson a yellow card because the laws are outcome-based.
“There was an act of foul play that probably prevented a try from being scored, therefore a penalty try and yellow card was inevitable.
“But this was not a particularly dirty tackle or a deliberate attempt to stop a try using foul play.
“Instead it was a last-ditch tackle that didn't quite come off.
“In a case such as this I would much rather a referee was able to use their feel for the game and situation and react accordingly.
“If I were the referee and had that option I would have awarded a penalty try but would not have shown a yellow card.
“To suffer the double punishment seems too strong to me, considering the crime Watson committed.”
England coach Eddie Jones refused to criticise the decision to sin-bin Watson, even given the fact that Fall was already very low to the ground and the tackler slipped onto the shoulder.
But the Australian boss did point out that the ruck was an area where regulations have changed and admitted his England said have yet to work out how to play within them.
“The game is changing a little bit and we are probably slow to adapt to it,” Jones said.
“We are not adapting to the referee’s interpretation at the ruck as well as we should.
“We just have to keep learning in those areas.
“We are a rugby team and no rugby team has an aura of invincibility about them.
“Every team is fallible and every team has a weakness and certain strengths and at the moment teams are out playing us in certain areas of the game.”
And England suffered another blow on Sunday when Wales’ 38-14 win over Italy saw them leapfrog Jones’ side into second place.