Don't question our commitment to player welfare, World Rugby tells Joe Schmidt

Governing body attempts to draw a line under controversial clear out decision in second test in Melbourne

SUPPORT: Alan Gilpin, the World Rugby chief executive: 'There is no other position on the field that is under the scrutiny our match officials are under'

WORLD Rugby have criticised Joe Schmidt’s comments questioning the governing body’s commitment to player welfare following the controversial Australia-Lions clearout decision but the Wallabies boss will escape disciplinary action, CEO Alan Gilpin said on Tuesday.

Schmidt, a former World Rugby director of rugby and high performance, was left seething following his team’s 29-26 second-Test defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Saturday. His anger was directed at the match officials’ decision not to award a penalty, when Lions back-rower Jac Morgan cleared out Australia’s Carlo Tizzano at a ruck in the build-up to Hugo Keenan’s last-minute winning try that secured the series victory for the tourists.

TMO Eric Gauzins and referee Andrea Piardi decided there was no foul play in Morgan’s actions, though Schmidt and his players felt the Lions player made high contact above the shoulder line on the back of Tizzano’s neck as he jackaled over the ball.

In his post-match media conference, the former Ireland boss cited rugby’s law 9.20b: “A player must not make contact with an opponent above the line of the shoulders. Sanction: Penalty.” 

“I think everyone can make their own decision on that,” Schmidt had said. “You just have to read law 9.20 and you just have to listen to the description from the referee and then watch the vision when two players are described as arriving at the same time. Just watch the footage.” Asked how a referee and officials could get such a decision wrong, as the Australia head coach suggested, Schmidt replied: “Because they are human. 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 are talking about. You cannot hit someone above the levels of the shoulders and there’s no bind with the left arm, his hand is on the ground. That’s what we have seen.” 

UNHAPPY: Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt

Gilpin was speaking as World Cup 2027 hosts Australia launched their ticketing plan for the tournament and opened his official speech at the event by attempting to draw a line under the Morgan-Tizzano incident.

“Emotions understandably run very high when a compelling and fiercely contested match such as the one we saw goes down to the wire,” the World Rugby CEO said. “In those tight contests, decisions made in crucial moments inevitably drive a lot of scrutiny.

“While, from a World Rugby perspective, we always say we do not publicly comment on match officials’ decisions, given the nature of the commentary surrounding last weekend, we just want to express our support for the match officials involved.

“There is no other position on the field that is under the scrutiny our match officials are under, and yet they do an incredible job under that pressure they are under in a live environment. I think it is fair to say that when the refereeing groups review decisions, they review them with the coaches and across the game.

“We are always proud to support our officials in that review process and that is what we are doing now and in the coming days with our colleagues from Australia and the Lions. So suffice to say we won’t be taking any further questions.” 

Yet Gilpin did speak to media after the event and said: “I think it is disappointing when the reaction is one of, ‘this means player welfare isn’t taken seriously’, because we have worked really hard on that narrative.

“Everyone knows we are putting player welfare, in its broadest sense, at the top of the agenda. You can see that from what we are doing with the instrumented mouthguards, all the research, the science, the investigations.

“The way the laws of the game have evolved in the last few years is all about, ‘How do we have this great physical contest, but make it as safe as possible?’. That part is challenging, in terms of the player welfare statements (by Schmidt), but we have a fantastic sport, played in front of an amazing crowd; an amazing game – it’s going to create talking points. We know that. As long as that continues to be a respectful debate then we’ve all got to lean into it.” 

As for whether Schmidt had said enough to warrant disciplinary action from the sport’s governing body, Gilpin said: “No, look, I think Joe....there's a lot of emotion, understandably. The Wallabies had a chance to win an amazing Test match, so we understand the emotion involved in that.

“Joe's comments have continued to respect the fact that the match officials have got a tough job to do. He might disagree with the decisions that were made, but I don't think he's called the integrity of our match officials into question.”