MELBOURNE — Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt was left fuming over Jac Morgan’s clean-out in the final minute of Australia’s 29-26 loss to the British and Irish Lions in Melbourne on Saturday night, a result that clinched the tourists their first series win since their last visit to Australia in 2013.
The Lions came back from 23-5 down after half an hour to trail by just two points in the closing stages, before a dramatic final attacking phase that finished with fullback Hugo Keenan beating Len Ikitau on the outside to score with only 50 seconds remaining.
But the tourists were forced to endure a nervy few minutes while Italian referee Andre Piardi looked at vision of Morgan’s clean-out on Carlo Tizzano, after the Wallabies replacement reeled out of the contact in the build-up to Keenan’s match-winner.
After several minutes looking at the vision, Piardi and his fellow officials agreed that Morgan had wrapped his arms in the clean-out and that while the back-rower had lost his feet, there was no foul play to rule on.
But Schmidt disagreed entirely, the Wallabies coach adamant Jac Morgan had offended broken law. 9.20.
“I think everyone can make their own decision on that, you just have to read 9.20,” the Wallabies coach told reporters as his crestfallen skipper Harry Wilson looked on beside him.
“And I guess you just have to listen to the description of the referee and then watch the vision. When two players are described as arriving at the same time, just watch the footage.”
Asked how the officials could have gotten the decision wrong, Schmidt then dug further into his belief the evidence that Morgan’s clean-out was illegal was obvious.
“Because they’re human. Players make errors, match officials make errors,” Schmidt added. “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 bind with the left arm, the hand’s on the ground, so that’s what we’ve seen and we’ve watched a number of replays from different angles. And so it is what it is, we just have to accept it.”
Wilson, meanwhile, was seen remonstrating with Piardi after Keenan’s try, and then later revealed how he had seen the incident live.
“Yeah, obviously I saw shoulder to the neck and Carlo was pretty sore after it, and he was straight down,” Wilson said. “So I went to him about that, and I got told that since he wrapped his arms it was all good to be hit in the neck.”
World Rugby can fine coaches if they feel their comments about referees are out of line, but Schmidt said he wasn’t questioning Piardi’s regard for player welfare, only that he had doubts about the game’s defining decision.
“I think when they look back at the decision they made, they may or may not [take a different view],” he said. “I spoke about one incident and I said in a world of player welfare, you only have to look at 9.20.
“That’s what they’re there to enforce, and a player who dives off his feet, is clearly beaten to the position over the ball, makes neck contact — it was a tough one to take.”
Unsurprisingly, Lions coach Andy Farrell took the alternate view, the Englishman convinced there was nothing wrong with Morgan’s clean-out.
“I thought it was a brilliant, clear-out. Did you,” Farrell said. “I thought it was a brilliant, I mean, yeah, honestly. I mean it depends which side of the fence you come from. I would’ve thought so.
“I can understand people’s opinions, but I thought Jack was brilliant when he came on and saw the rest of the bench… I thought it was a good clear-out live. I couldn’t understand what they was going back for. They seem to go back for absolutely everything these days, don’t they?
“But I’m so pleased that the referee held his nerve right decision, in my opinion.”
Told of Farrell’s comments, Schmidt said he wasn’t surprised Farrell had seen the incident differently.
“Not really, you’re always going to have one team that are euphoric, and they’ve worked really hard for this,” Schmidt said.
“I don’t want to detract from their performance. The way they built their way back, just describing Finn’s kick, the pressure they put on, I thought it was a real Test match.”
