Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt won’t face disciplinary action for his comments following Saturday’s controversial second Lions Test in Melbourne despite World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin saying he was “disappointed” with some of the commentary.
Gilpin added that World Rugby would not make the findings from its review into the officials public despite debate raging as to whether the final breakdown was legal.
The World Rugby chief executive was speaking from the rooftop of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art at the unveiling of the 2027 World Cup ticketing process, but Gilpin’s appearance was dominated by questions surrounding the dramatic climax of the Lions’ 29-26 great escape over the Wallabies in Melbourne less than 72 hours earlier.
World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin (R) says Joe Schmidt won’t be sanctioned for his post-game critique of the officiating from the second Lions Test at the MCG. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
While Gilpin initially said he would address the elephant in the room surrounding the controversy, the long-time World Rugby official added that it was their responsibility to “support” the officials from the field and, therefore, he would not address it any further.
But speaking to reporters following the event, Gilpin confirmed Schmidt, who had slammed the final decision not to penalise Jac Morgan for his clean out on Carlo Tizzano and claimed that the moment went against World Rugby’s push to make the game safer, would not be sanctioned for questioning the governing body.
“No, look, I think Joe, you know, there’s a lot of emotion, understandably,” Gilpin said in response to whether Schmidt would be facing any disciplinary action.
“You know, the Wallabies had a chance to win an amazing Test match. So, we understand the emotion involved in that.
“I think 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.”
Schmidt highlighted law 9.20 following the high-octane Test and put their failure to address the moment properly down to being “human”.
Given Andrea Piardi’s decision to stay with his on-field decision ensured the Lions moved to an unassailable 2-0 series lead ahead of the third Test in Sydney, the moment naturally has dominated discussion since and divided opinion down the middle.
Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui said Piardi was “too weak to give” the cancel out the match-winning try, while former England star James Haskell claimed that Tizzano should have been red carded for diving.
Gilpin said it wasn’t a surprise that the moment had garnered such debate, but the World Rugby boss said he was “disappointed” that the governing body’s integrity had been questioned.
“I think it’s disappointing when the reaction is one of this means player welfare’s not taken seriously, because I think we’ve worked really, really hard on that narrative,” Gilpin said.
“And everyone knows we’re putting that player welfare in its broadest sense at the top of the agenda.
“You can see that across what we’re doing with instrumented mouthguards, all the research, the science, the investment. The way that the laws of the game have evolved in recent years is about how do we have this great physical contest but make it as safe as possible?
“So, I think that part’s challenging in terms of the player welfare sort of statements.
“It’s going to create talking points. And we know that. And as long as that continues to be a respectful kind of talking point and debate, then I think we all just got to lean into it.”
Joe Schmidt was left livid after a last-minute call in the second Lions Test went against the Wallabies. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Gilpin confirmed that their review of the Test was completed on Monday, but added that they wouldn’t make the findings public.
“We won’t talk publicly about that decision; the decision’s happened, the game’s finished and move on,” Gilpin said.
“We’ll share and we do share with Joe and the coaching team why the match officials made that decision. Joe’s got a view about what was wrong with that decision making and there’ll be a debate between them about that, so that Joe and his players can go into the next Test understanding how that game’s going to be officiated.
“I think what we’ve seen in the past is it [making public comment] does explode because there’s always going to be, you know, regardless of what we say about the rights or wrongs of a particular decision, there will be one group who disagree and that’s what in the past has led to match officials being retargeted.”
