The Hard Luck of the Irish

The 6 Nations is up and running and what an interesting first weekend it’s been. England got the win they desperately needed to give the young pups some confidence. France took Italy apart at what seemed like a canter. And Ireland were robbed.

[Cue Welsh bile]

I know, I know, Wales scored more tries blah blah fucking blah, but the fact of the matter is, my friends from beyond the toll gates, you were very lucky indeed. I have no doubt the legacy of furious fans frothing at the mouth over Warburton’s World Cup dismissal had an impact on Wayne Barnes and his touch judge deciding not to send off Bradley Davies.

You could almost see the fear in their eyes as they consulted over the decision. Even a whiff of red from Barnes’s pocket would have been enough to unleash a baying mob of pissed up Welshies wielding competition sized leeks, poisonous daffodils and Duffy CDs fashioned into rudimentary hatchets.

Perhaps more disappointing though was the match-winning penalty awarded to Wales for the Stephen Ferris “tip tackle”. This wasn’t a tip tackle. In no-one’s world was this a tip tackle, it wasn’t even a dangerous tackle, and it cost Ireland the match.

I agree with the analysis of Guscott, Davies and Wood after the game. The IRB have to act on the tip tackle interpretations as quickly as possible in order to deliver common sense and consistency. We cannot continue to have games being affected in such a dramatic way because of player and refereeing uncertainty.

Davies: Off the ball tackle, lifts player to beyond the horizontal four foot in the air, intentionally drops player, player falls on upper back and neck with full weight of the body

Ferris: On the ball tackle, one leg taken above horizontal, other foot barely goes six inches off the ground, player lands on side