ENGLAND v WALES - Match Thread / Build up - 7/3/2020

[TightHEAD]

First topic message reminder :

England    v Wales    - 07/03/2020 - 16:45pm - the HOME of Rugby.

England XV

Daly; Watson, Tuilagi, Farrell, May; Ford, Youngs; Marler, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Kruis, Lawes, Wilson, Curry

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Stuart, Launchbury, Ewels, Earl, Heinz, Slade

Wales XV

Halfpenny; North, Tompkins, Parkes, Williams; Biggar, T Williams; R Evans, Owens, D Lewis, Ball, AW Jones (capt), Moriarty, Navidi, Tipuric.

Replacements: Elias, Carre, L Brown, Shingler, Faletau, Webb, J Evans, McNicholl.


Overall - Played 134 - Eng 63 - Wales 59 - Drawn 12

[mikey_dragon]

Yellow would have been harsh in the circumstances, but understandable. Red is absolutely ridiculous.

Agree.

[BigGee]

It was fine

33-23 England

15 v 13 for the last couple of mins

[Heaf]

Curry gets tipped and not even a second look.

Parkes tackled Manu high earlier in the game and initial contact was head on head. No mitigation and TMO didn't even review.

TMO has been woeful all game ...

[formerly known as Sam]

Curry gets tipped and not even a second look.

Parkes tackled Manu high earlier in the game and initial contact was head on head. No mitigation and TMO didn't even review.

TMO has been woeful all game ...

It's Marias Jonker isn't it? He's terrible, no idea how he still has a job.

[BigGee]

Eddie does not look to pleased!

[Duty281]

Second time the referee incorrectly plays a knock on advantage for too long.

[Heaf]

Wow how much of an advantage do you get for a knock on?

[BigGee]

Well Wales get their BP and they deserved it

Its been a cracking game for the neutrals

[Soul Requiem]

Ref has been utter garbage.

[formerly known as Sam]

Wow how much of an advantage do you get for a knock on?

Lots apparently. O'Keefe was a bit generous to Wales there.

Daly takes out Slade creating space for the try.

[mikey_dragon]

England were much better for me, thought they could have been penalised more for a few tackles but can’t help but admire that defence. Well done England.

[Duty281]

Referee gifts the Welsh an undeserved losing BP.

But a win's a win and all that, though the margin flatters Wales greatly.

[Dirtydave]

This is an absolutely ludicrous last few minutes, Wales deserve nothing, England have undone a very naive gameplan...

The worst thing for Welsh rugby is coming back and getting within a few points because they don't deserve it

[king_carlos]

Eddie does not look to pleased!

It's a second win in a row where England arguably haven't converted their opportunities into a big win.

[formerly known as Sam]

Ref has been utter garbage.

I thought he had a decent game. Badly guided by the TMO. He obviously couldn't see a screen for the Manu tackle and got told shoulder to head was initial contact (which it wasn't) and no attempt to use the arms. If the TMO tells you shoulder charge to the head you go red. The blame has to fall with the TMO there. The long advantage at the end was odd but there was a couple similar earlier in the game.

[majesticimperialman]

Well Wales do get a losing bonus point against 13 man England.

I have never known an advantage go on for so long.still a win is a win, so well done England, for getting the win and the triple crown as well.

[Heaf]

He went back earlier on as well after Wales kicked ahead by about 20m then ended up losing the ball ... very odd.

[majesticimperialman]

I thought the rule was if you select to have a scrum, then you cannot change your mind.
Wales select a scrum the change their minds and went for a line out....is that actually allowed?

[Guest]

Never again will other nations be accused of ref whingeing. Thank god for that!

But congrats England. The better team on paper and on the day. Enjoy your win.

[king_carlos]

Grabbing, twisting or squeezing the testicles carries a 12 week ban for low end offences.

I do wonder if by the letter of the law Marler will be cited for his playful little intervention during that early scrap.

[formerly known as Sam]

I thought the rule was if you select to have a scrum, then you cannot change your mind.
Wales select a scrum the change their minds and went for a line out....is that actually allowed?

I think Wales were trying to be cute. Get another prop on so England are less mobile and then go back to the lineout where they were winning pens.

What worries me about this kind of officiating by the TMO is that if it continues they are encouraging players to stay down after high tackles. Now the tackle in North was only reviewed because North took a while to get back to his feet, now that's perfectly understandable, however, you're creating a culture where players will start to stay down after high or suspected high tackles in order to get the TMO review. If Manu had stayed down after the Parkes one then there's a good chance Parkes would have received at least a yellow card. Lazy TMO work could cause us long term problems in the game.

[majesticimperialman]

All though the game today was close, it is still 3 losses for Wales, will this be bad for Pivac? or is still too early to tell?

[BigGee]

Grabbing, twisting or squeezing the testicles carries a 12 week ban for low end offences.

I do wonder if by the letter of the law Marler will be cited for his playful little intervention during that early scrap.

Clips of it are all over twitter now, so he may well get his collar felt.

Not quite as good as Vinnie Jones on Paul Gascoigne, but close!

[Guest]

I have to say I disagree with most of the comments here. That game was there for Wales to win in the final quarter in particular but the second half as a whole.

I thought Wales dealt with the explosive first quarter very well and kept the ball away from England when they are at their most dangerous i.e. fresh and not tired where their explosive power (Tuilagi, Itoje, Watson) is most dangerous. They conceded one try but got it back to 7-3 and dealt that period of the game really well. The second quarter got away from Wales but with a bit of a gift to get back to 20-9 the game was still there. England did nothing with the ball as is now the case until they get in the 22. Kick, kick, kick. Wales managed that not too badly but should have known to fight hard to keep England pinned back.

Another game where Wales let in easy tries from first phase when the other team gets in the 22. Very frustrating. Both tries in the first half came this way. The third try took a bit more effort but came from an overrun in the Welsh defence and Parkes not getting back to his feet quickly enough, Youngs goes through the gap, and from there our scramble defence is atrocious. Similar to Curry's try last year but further out. It feels like we have swapped defensive systems with France because even with more men in the line we all seem to step in as a unit and get done out wide. Very poor. But really England didn't do too much to win this game and at 20-16 after that world class try we allowed them back to 26-16 by two penalties from overplaying out of our own 22. Very simply we handed England the game second half by giving them points that they gladly took. None of their 13 points came from sustained pressure: 6 points from kicks in front with us trying to run England off their feet in the wrong areas and being very soft to clearout, and then 7 from that defensive error which in fairness still took a few phases to finish off. Again, it was game management, knowing when to kick and kick to compete or put it out of play, and when to run it. Over running the ball when it was slow and England were so physically dominant was a recipe for disaster and gave England the 2 score cushion that allowed them to coast in that third quarter which led to the try and eventually the buffer that prevented the typical Welsh comeback being a winning one.

For me the biggest disappointment, again, was failing to capitalise on being in the 22 though. Because even at 33-16 there was still something to play for. From 66 minutes to 75ish, really, Wales did milk the two cards but the lack of urgency to get that first try was crucial. As soon as Tuilagi was sent off (72 minutes?) they should have quick tapped: instead they let England turn it over at the lineout, run down the clock at their own scrum put in, and when they turned it over with their own scrum it was another case of England being able to run down the clock some more. The try was fortuitous in that England handed them an opportunity but also it arrived with 2 minutes to play. With a 2 man advantage it's basically a guarantee you can score tries with a few phases of hands through the line (as they showed with the 3rd try) so I don't understand the hesitancy after the red card. Even more than that though was the lack of fire when Genge went off. The same thing applies and Wales need to rediscover the quick tap penalty and have some sort of

Tuilagi's tackle was clearly a card. I did not know that apparently there can be no mitigating circumstances when it's a shoulder charge so that North 'dipped' does not matter but was informed by a friend who is a much better referee than I ever was that this is now the case. It is obviously a penalty, it is clearly a card, and I thought yellow but then I don't know the laws well enough which it seems a lot of other people don't as well!

More tactically though I think cards are part and parcel of the game. Teams now 'earn' the advantage and play expansive rugby when that is won. The same goes for 'winning' the man advantage. England infringed time and time again to keep Wales in front of the whitewash. You can't say that the two tries in the last 5 minutes don't count or don't reflect the game because they do. England took the option to infringe and lose men and then hope the clock would save them, which it did. This is not the first time they've done it against Wales and a bit more urgency to make sure they still had 5 minutes to get that third try, instead of just 2, would almost certainly have been enough to win the game because England were out of it with 13 men. England deserved to be 2 men down because they infringed repeatedly in the last 15 minutes when 2 Welsh tries would have had the game on a knife edge. I don't understand the implication that somehow those points don't count, or count for less, because they happened when England were down to 13?

I don't think the referee was poor. Not by his standards anyway which have been erratic in the past. He seemed to allow England a lot. One thing I did notice was the 'home advantage' England were getting on kicks from Alexandre Ruiz. It is very hard to accept the way the French officials treat home advantage. Did it play a big part? Who knows but it did give England an extra 20% field position every time as a minimum. He was awarding touch where the ball bounced, even if it was 5-10 yards out of bounds when it bounced. I did think that the first English try came from two English lineouts which were actually ours. It looked like Parkes' clearing kick that ballooned up in the air was touched and then Watson was tackled in to touch but there we go. I thought that Moriarty could have had two long distance run ins. Itoje collapsed the maul by taking Moriarty to ground in the first half and then AWJ's tackle on Slade looked like he played the man not the ball. Moriarty was away for both and I'd like to see those again. Lots more marginal calls as well could have gone to Wales. The scrum call for the penalty in the second half looked like Marler was bound on Leon Brown's shorts and simply drove straight across once he got a nudge. It was 50:50 with the loosehead side of each scrum going forward and the referee awarded it to the side he was on. AWJ took a head shot from Courtney Lawes. So lots of key decisions went England's way.

Some positives: Rhys Webb, the back row, Nick Tompkins. Lineout: excellent. Offloading and support lines much better.

Negatives: coolness under pressure and capitalising on field position. Kick to compete: it might be tactical to go long for field position but no box kick was competed for. Defence etc.

This was another game where England relied on their physical power and the clock to get them off the hook with penalty after penalty coming after they get a lead. Just like 2016 with Wales going right to the wire to win the game. 2018 wasn't too different either.

Ultimately for Wales I think we are a work in progress but some elements of our game seem frustratingly naive and really we could very easily be on for a Grand Slam now if our set piece and first phase defence was marginally better. Just a bit more game management and surely there are big gains to be made in defence and that can be the difference between winning and losing. Still, even with that 3 score lead Wales could and maybe should have won this game once they had a 2 man advantage. Rugby is an 80+ minute game and England aren't a team that peaks towards the end of games. England really didn't have too much to offer and twice when they tried stringing the phases together they got turned over (North at the breakdown, knock on in the second half) yet they still scored 3 tries and won the game. I don't think Wales looked tired at all as someone said, they showed they had more in the tank at the end of the game and need to use their strike runners and danger men more effectively but that all comes from being able to win the physical challenges.

Brutal game of rugby though and I think thoroughly enjoyable for the neutral.

This is also another chance to say that some events transcend rugby and it's with sadness that we should meet the tragic news about Matthew Watkins' passing, and for us to celebrate the joy he brought those who knew him on and off the field.

[Guest]

For me it seemed more like a bit of a b*llend fondle than a testicle squeeze (which is excruciating)! Fine margins, I know. But just banter for me.

[SecretFly]

Grabbing, twisting or squeezing the testicles carries a 12 week ban for low end offences.

I do wonder if by the letter of the law Marler will be cited for his playful little intervention during that early scrap.

Ball tampering? He's lucky it's not cricket!

[Guest]

I thought the rule was if you select to have a scrum, then you cannot change your mind.
Wales select a scrum the change their minds and went for a line out....is that actually allowed?

I think Wales were trying to be cute. Get another prop on so England are less mobile and then go back to the lineout where they were winning pens.

What worries me about this kind of officiating by the TMO is that if it continues they are encouraging players to stay down after high tackles. Now the tackle in North was only reviewed because North took a while to get back to his feet, now that's perfectly understandable, however, you're creating a culture where players will start to stay down after high or suspected high tackles in order to get the TMO review. If Manu had stayed down after the Parkes one then there's a good chance Parkes would have received at least a yellow card. Lazy TMO work could cause us long term problems in the game.

Ruiz the touch judge stepped in straight away. It had nothing to do with North 'staying down'.

Clear foul play. Shoulder to the head. The cool light of day tomorrow should help get some perspective that was clearly a card and the law is no mitigating circumstances for an illegal shoulder charge.

[SecretFly]

For me it seemed more like a bit of a b*llend fondle than a testicle squeeze (which is excruciating)! Fine margins, I know. But just banter for me.

Jesus! Ball tickling is now down as banter? I'm really getting behind in these modern times.

[Guest]

For me it seemed more like a bit of a b*llend fondle than a testicle squeeze (which is excruciating)! Fine margins, I know. But just banter for me.

Jesus!  Ball tickling is now down as banter?  I'm really getting behind in these modern times.

It’s all fun and games until someone goes home to their wife with a bruised chopper.

[Yoda]

Some of the stuff that happened in the game from both sides was really petty purile c**p that used to annoy the hell out me when playing. Some of the holding off the ball or holding on in rucks was just pure rubbish. The ref seemed naive in many facets of the game. Tmo was junk however and not for the first time imo. I do think at times the players looked like they had scores to settle instead of trying to play. Strange game but entertaining at times just that niggly feeling that the game of rugby lost something with the sillyness. Hopefully kids watching that don't copy it. Fair play to you Welsh fans on here very magmanimous in defeat and hope the lynch mob don't come knocking for Wayne.

[Cyril]

That diatribe by Miaow above is possibly the most one-eyed reading of a game I’ve ever had the misfortune to read.

It would be better to sober up and, perhaps l, show a little grace in defeat.

[Guest]

I think most of us welsh fans expected a defeat, and a lot predicted a big margin of victory for England (at least, among my friends and I).  And the score line definitely flattered Wales. England far better in most aspects. Just one of those games where we able to come back into it.

Agreed, Wayne Pivac needs to be given time. We can’t go from 10 years of Gatland to a new system in a few weeks and expect to be seamless. Frustrating for fans, yes. But we need to be a bit more patient.

[Cyril]

Agreed, Oracle

[Yoda]

For me it seemed more like a bit of a b*llend fondle than a testicle squeeze (which is excruciating)! Fine margins, I know. But just banter for me.

Agreed but some the stupid rubbish I mentioned in previous post. Hopefully genge will call him a sausage! I've just written wales online headline "sausage Gate"

[SecretFly]

Good game but not a great game to the extent that BeeGee perhaps regarded it.  
England played in gulps.  Enough gulps to just get across the line in the end (2 men down made them sweat a little. Always expect the unexpected - especially with comeback kings Wales on the other end of the field.)

But overall, I felt England were actually flat and found it hard to keep intensity up.  They looked sluggish rather than just willingly performing in a lower gear.  Dare I say it, had that been France against them, it might have been another win for France.

But a win is a win and Wales didn't look like they had enough punch to close the gap but for the one-two double blow England took in personnel loss giving them a taste of an historic steal. All they ever need to go for it.
England not proving invincibility though, which might worry Eddie a tad considering that's supposedly their new goal.  Inconsistency creeping in?

[Guest]

Good game but not a great game to the extent that BeeGee perhaps regarded it.  
England played in gulps.  Enough gulps to just get across the line in the end (2 men down made them sweat a little.  Always expect the unexpected - especially with comeback kings Wales on the other end of the field.)

But overall, I felt England were actually flat and found it hard to keep intensity up.  They looked sluggish rather than just willingly performing in a lower gear.

Another one eyed diatribe by mia-

[Gooseberry]

This game is what the six nations is about though. You can tell it mattered to the players dead rubber or not.

[Guest]

This game is what the six nations is about though. You can tell it mattered to the players dead rubber or not.

Dead rubber? That will be Mrs AWJ tonight after the Marler incident

[Yoda]

I think most of us welsh fans expected a defeat, and a lot predicted a big margin of victory for England (at least, among my friends and I).  And the score line definitely flattered Wales. England far better in most aspects. Just one of those games where we able to come back into it.

Agreed, Wayne Pivac needs to be given time. We can’t go from 10 years of Gatland to a new system in a few weeks and expect to be seamless. Frustrating for fans, yes. But we need to be a bit more patient.

Best summary so far. One of those games indeed. I think there won't be much between England, France Ireland and Wales in the near future. If any one of those is to springboard its probably France I'm afraid. England still have major questions for me biggest of all would be discipline and consistency.

[Guest]

Andy Goode wading in on the Marler-AWJ nut squeeze. But criticising Gareth Thomas for for joking about it. I’m so confused these days about homophobia, gay rights, pro-free speech, equal opportunities, etc. I can’t decide who’s right!

[formerly known as Sam]

I thought the rule was if you select to have a scrum, then you cannot change your mind.
Wales select a scrum the change their minds and went for a line out....is that actually allowed?

I think Wales were trying to be cute. Get another prop on so England are less mobile and then go back to the lineout where they were winning pens.

What worries me about this kind of officiating by the TMO is that if it continues they are encouraging players to stay down after high tackles. Now the tackle in North was only reviewed because North took a while to get back to his feet, now that's perfectly understandable, however, you're creating a culture where players will start to stay down after high or suspected high tackles in order to get the TMO review. If Manu had stayed down after the Parkes one then there's a good chance Parkes would have received at least a yellow card. Lazy TMO work could cause us long term problems in the game.

Ruiz the touch judge stepped in straight away. It had nothing to do with North 'staying down'.

Clear foul play. Shoulder to the head. The cool light of day tomorrow should help get some perspective that was clearly a card and the law is no mitigating circumstances for an illegal shoulder charge.

My comments were critiquing the TMO and his lack of consistency. George had every reason to take a while getting to his feet. If TMO's continue like this though you will see players staying down increasingly after high tackles in order to get the review. If Manu was less honest for instance then Wales would have been down to 14.

It was also right bicep to shoulder as initial contact. If it had been shoulder direct to head at that pace then I'm not sure North would have woken up yet. Sir Clive called it best when he said reckless but it's no way uncommon to see players fly in like that to start a dive for the line but you can guarantee this will in no way be consistently applied. For me yellow at most. TMO's fault though, as the ref can't see the screen as soon as he hears shoulder to head and no arms he has no choice. I think if he'd seen the replay he'd have gone yellow.

[Yoda]

Thought gareth's response was hilarious and fully needed in this overly pc world we live in. Marler is a sausage and I can see this dragging on. Perhaps the media should have a look at the average rugby club in the uk and see some of the shananigans that happen. Reminds of time I upset the vets team....

[Geen sport voor watjes]

Tuilagi needs to be banned from the game before he really does some serious damage to a player. He had already taken halfpenny our head high earlier. Unfortunately he does this cowardly thing of apologising after doing some damage.

As a side note to welsh fans. If Bob Norster was still playing Itoje would not have lasted ten minutes on the pitch.

[mikey_dragon]

That diatribe by Miaow above is possibly the most one-eyed reading of a game I’ve ever had the misfortune to read.

It would be better to sober up and, perhaps l, show a little grace in defeat.

Yes.

[Guest]

I thought the rule was if you select to have a scrum, then you cannot change your mind.
Wales select a scrum the change their minds and went for a line out....is that actually allowed?

I think Wales were trying to be cute. Get another prop on so England are less mobile and then go back to the lineout where they were winning pens.

What worries me about this kind of officiating by the TMO is that if it continues they are encouraging players to stay down after high tackles. Now the tackle in North was only reviewed because North took a while to get back to his feet, now that's perfectly understandable, however, you're creating a culture where players will start to stay down after high or suspected high tackles in order to get the TMO review. If Manu had stayed down after the Parkes one then there's a good chance Parkes would have received at least a yellow card. Lazy TMO work could cause us long term problems in the game.

Ruiz the touch judge stepped in straight away. It had nothing to do with North 'staying down'.

Clear foul play. Shoulder to the head. The cool light of day tomorrow should help get some perspective that was clearly a card and the law is no mitigating circumstances for an illegal shoulder charge.

My comments were critiquing the TMO and his lack of consistency. George had every reason to take a while getting to his feet. If TMO's continue like this though you will see players staying down increasingly after high tackles in order to get the review. If Manu was less honest for instance then Wales would have been down to 14.

It was also right bicep to shoulder as initial contact. If it had been shoulder direct to head at that pace then I'm not sure North would have woken up yet. Sir Clive called it best when he said reckless but it's no way uncommon to see players fly in like that to start a dive for the line but you can guarantee this will in no way be consistently applied. For me yellow at most. TMO's fault though, as the ref can't see the screen as soon as he hears shoulder to head and no arms he has no choice. I think if he'd seen the replay he'd have gone yellow.

I know your comment are critiquing the TMO but the TMO had no part in deciding to check Tuilagi's tackle. It was quite clearly illegal in real time and the French touch judge, who did not have a good game, stepped in immediately and spoke to the referee and to check it for foul play. Your point about players 'staying down' is irrelevant. AWJ stayed down for several minutes after head contact from Lawes: it was checked by the TMO and nothing was given. Parkes tackle was checked and they stuck with the on field decision of a penalty which I see no reason to change (high, secondary head to head contact). Tuilagi's tackle was reckless, always leading with the shoulder and a tucked arm, and clattered in to North's head at the same time as he engaged his shoulder (Manu is a big man after all). Where's the inconsistency?

As I mentioned above it could only have been a red due to the tucked arm. I thought yellow initially but that's because I don't know the laws well enough (like everyone else on here).

[Guest]

That diatribe by Miaow above is possibly the most one-eyed reading of a game I’ve ever had the misfortune to read.

It would be better to sober up and, perhaps l, show a little grace in defeat.

Yes.

I enjoyed watching the game at the pub with friends. The pub was about a third full of English fans. I bought 4 pints after the game for a group we were chatting to throughout.

How did you show grace in defeat? Did you even enjoy the game sat staring at your phone?

[SecretFly]

Andy Goode wading in on the Marler-AWJ nut squeeze. But criticising Gareth Thomas for for joking about it. I’m so confused these days about homophobia, gay rights, pro-free speech, equal opportunities, etc. I can’t decide who’s right!

UN has declared that the worldwide diversity equality harmony respect agenda will necessitate Monday being World We're Right Day for Homosexuals.  Tuesday will be for Right wing Women.  Wednesday will be for Left Wing Women.  Thursday for Whites.  Friday for Blacks.  Saturday for Racists and Sunday for Homophobes.

So neither Goode nor Thomas is right today coz they're both white.

[formerly known as Sam]

I thought the rule was if you select to have a scrum, then you cannot change your mind.
Wales select a scrum the change their minds and went for a line out....is that actually allowed?

I think Wales were trying to be cute. Get another prop on so England are less mobile and then go back to the lineout where they were winning pens.

What worries me about this kind of officiating by the TMO is that if it continues they are encouraging players to stay down after high tackles. Now the tackle in North was only reviewed because North took a while to get back to his feet, now that's perfectly understandable, however, you're creating a culture where players will start to stay down after high or suspected high tackles in order to get the TMO review. If Manu had stayed down after the Parkes one then there's a good chance Parkes would have received at least a yellow card. Lazy TMO work could cause us long term problems in the game.

Ruiz the touch judge stepped in straight away. It had nothing to do with North 'staying down'.

Clear foul play. Shoulder to the head. The cool light of day tomorrow should help get some perspective that was clearly a card and the law is no mitigating circumstances for an illegal shoulder charge.

My comments were critiquing the TMO and his lack of consistency. George had every reason to take a while getting to his feet. If TMO's continue like this though you will see players staying down increasingly after high tackles in order to get the review. If Manu was less honest for instance then Wales would have been down to 14.

It was also right bicep to shoulder as initial contact. If it had been shoulder direct to head at that pace then I'm not sure North would have woken up yet. Sir Clive called it best when he said reckless but it's no way uncommon to see players fly in like that to start a dive for the line but you can guarantee this will in no way be consistently applied. For me yellow at most. TMO's fault though, as the ref can't see the screen as soon as he hears shoulder to head and no arms he has no choice. I think if he'd seen the replay he'd have gone yellow.

I know your comment are critiquing the TMO but the TMO had no part in deciding to check Tuilagi's tackle. It was quite clearly illegal in real time and the French touch judge, who did not have a good game, stepped in immediately and spoke to the referee and to check it for foul play. Your point about players 'staying down' is irrelevant. AWJ stayed down for several minutes after head contact from Lawes: it was checked by the TMO and nothing was given. Parkes tackle was checked and they stuck with the on field decision of a penalty which I see no reason to change (high, secondary head to head contact). Tuilagi's tackle was reckless, always leading with the shoulder and a tucked arm, and clattered in to North's head at the same time as he engaged his shoulder (Manu is a big man after all). Where's the inconsistency?

As I mentioned above it could only have been a red due to the tucked arm. I thought yellow initially but that's because I don't know the laws well enough (like everyone else on here).

Parkes wasn't checked. The TMO only woke up when questions were directed at him. The TJ steps in because the players stays down from a high impact collision in front of him. Hence the ref asks the question. The TMO needs to assist the referee throughout the game and not just when the ref poses a question. The TMO is there to assist with potential foul play which he failed to do. He also failed to notice the lack of initial head contact but he was pushing for a red so wasn't going to offer doubt into the refs mind.

I saw nothing in the AWJ one but could be wrong there was a lot of seat belt tackles from both teams.

[Guest]

Everything is checked in the modern game even if there isn't a break in play or the ref isn't in direct communication.

[Gooseberry]

Everything is checked in the modern game even if there isn't a break in play or the ref isn't in direct communication.

Yeah like Ireland charging from the side got checked the other week right

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