Duncan Casey: Struggling with the subtleties of the scrum
Referee Matthew Carley addresses South Africa's Siya Kolisi and Ireland's Caelan Doris during the Quilter Nations Series match at Aviva Stadium, Pic: Brian Lawless/PA
The first half lasted over an hour. That’s usually a sign of a game that is out of the ordinary, and Saturday’s match in the Aviva between the first and third ranked sides in the world was far from ordinary. ‘Chaotic’ has been the word of choice used to describe the encounter since, from players, coaches and journalists alike. Much of the analysis during and after the game laid the blame for this chaos at the door of referee Matthew Carley. Proper order says you. Sure who else’s fault could that many stoppages and interventions be?
Well, the people forcing him to put his hand in his pocket and his whistle in his mouth, for a start. Carley made one clanger – failing to produce at least a yellow card for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s attempt to decapitate Jimmy O’Brien with a flying shoulder in the seventh minute. That decision was perplexing and inexcusable, and flies in the face of everything we are supposed to be seeing around protecting players and making the game safer. Presumably, he will have to justify this to World Rugby’ s Head of Match Officials Joël Jutge this week. Apart from that error, Carley had a solid game.
