RWC Draw
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@Billy-Tell @Bovidae Geez, I can certainly understand Spain's frustration. I'd be fuming. Dodgy as. Whoever appointed the refs, World Rugby or Rugby Europe, should give themselves an uppercut. They knew what was at stake and who was to benefit from a loss to Spain. Even if the ref did his job well, there would always be suspicions/questions. They should have appointed refs from countries that had no interest in the outcome. What a farce.
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Ha, just read online that Rugby Europe was responsible for the appointment of the Romanian referees in the Belgium v Spain test. Guess where the current President of Rugby Europe comes from?
Also, Spain had requested well before the test to have another referee team appointed.
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This is the dignified response of the Spaniards.
They can piss off. World Rugby should preemptively ban them from the next RWC.
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I was watching this game live on TV thinking that Spain is getting reffed off the park here... it was really obvious to the point that the Ref even looked a little embarrassed/guilty at times. Spain were never allowed into the game.
At the end when the Spanish players rushed I was like Nooooooooo don´t be dickheads... hot headed Latin blooded divers etc.
But it wasn't until later that I realised Romania benefitted from the whole debacle... then I was like their reaction is not totally unjustified.
This is a once in a generation team from Spain. What recourse does a small union like Spain have when this sort of corruption denies them their legitimate shot at the RWC... I don´t like that behaviour but at least it has called attention to bullshit corrupt reffing. -
World rugby have sent a « please explain » to European rugby.
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The game needs to be replayed
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@baron-silas-greenback Agree 100%, but will Rugby Europe/World Rugby have the guts to take that decision?
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While I don’t condone rushing a ref like that, if he was corrupt maybe he deserved it?
Neutral refs are important to avoid even the appearance of corruption or bias. Something Super Rugby should consider with their cost cutting.
You could understand maybe one AR being Romanian, but all three?
Not to mention the language barrier you've already got with Belgian v Spanish.
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While I don’t condone rushing a ref like that, if he was corrupt maybe he deserved it?
Neutral refs are important to avoid even the appearance of corruption or bias. Something Super Rugby should consider with their cost cutting.
You could understand maybe one AR being Romanian, but all three?
Not to mention the language barrier you've already got with Belgian v Spanish.
Not really. I'd expect all 3 officials speaking the same language is pretty common/standard. That is the UEFA/FIFA soccer norm, and I'd imagine Rugby Europe would be influenced by that model. I say with absolutely no research whatsoever.
But this is a rugby body in which there are about 40 to 50 odd countries, of which only about 3 or 4 would share a language.
It should have been changed though when it was relaised that what would have been exepcted to be an unimportant obscure match at the time of scheduling had took on so much importance (for Romania as well as Spain), as apparently Spain did request,.
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We all wait for Gosper's tweet but I fear this will disappear in the ether like the explanation of the 3rd Lions test debacle.
Gosper is firmly in someone's pocket!
Gosper was adamant that the number of players choosing club over country wasn't damaging the international game – yet.
"We'll have to monitor that reality to see over the coming years if the international game has to adjust in anyway," he said.
"For now, there is no damage to the international game, as far as I'm concerned."
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Samoa knew they'd be facing Spain in RWC qualifier...over 2 weeks ago
19 March, 5:57pm
The intrigue surrounding Spain’s failure to automatically qualify for the Rugby World Cup is deepening, as an article written over two weeks ago suggested that Samoan Rugby knew they’d be facing Spain and not Romania in the playoff.Manu Samoa – according to the article in the Samoa Observer – knew they would be facing Spain in a Rugby World Cup qualifer on June 9, despite the fact that Spain were in pole position to take the automatic qualifying space.
Instead Romania qualified for Rugby World Cup 2019 after a dramatic finale to the Rugby Europe Championship yesterday (Sunday). Spain must now face Portugal for the right to play Samoa in June.
Ugly scenes at the Belgium Spain match in Brussels, where Spanish players surrounded the Romanian referee, Vlad Iordachescu; have catapulted the issue to prominence in the last 24 hours.
The choice of a Romanian referee in a match that directly affected Romania’s qualification for the Rugby World Cup has raised eyebrows and questions have been asked as to how this situation was allowed develop by World Rugby.
The penalty count in the match is reported to have been in the region of 28 – 8 in favour of Belgium and many are questioning how the penalty could be so one-sided.
Rugby Europe released the following statement today: “Rugby Europe Selection Committee is waiting for the assessment report of the Supervisor for Belgium v Spain Match officials.
“In addition, this Committee will meet in Poznan next Friday on the occasion of the Rugby Europe U18 Championships. Its agenda will be modified and a large portion of the meeting will be devoted to the analysis of every stage of the Belgium v Spain game. Following this meeting, a statement will be released to Rugby Europe Board of Directors for dissemination.”
Adding to the intrigue is that fact the Samoa Observer reported two weeks ago on March 1 that: “Spain will host Manu Samoa for their first Rugby World Cup qualifying match on June 9.
“This was confirmed by the Manu Samoa Head Coach, Fuimaono Titimaea Tafua, in an interview with Samoa Observer.
“Manu Samoa will then host Spain in Apia Park on June 23 for their final qualifying match.”
How Samoa’s coaching staff were certain they’d be playing Spain is unclear.
Prior to the 2018 Rugby Europe Championship, Romania would have been favourites to grab the automatic qualifying, but the statement from Manu Samoa came after Spain had beaten Romania and had themselves become favourites to automatically qualify.
World Rugby released the following statement today, washing their hands of the appointment of the referee.
“While World Rugby does not appoint match officials for the Rugby Europe Championship, it is in contact with Rugby Europe to understand the context of events relating to the Belgium v Spain match in Brussels on Sunday, which doubled as an important RWC 2019 qualifier.”
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While I don’t condone rushing a ref like that, if he was corrupt maybe he deserved it?
Neutral refs are important to avoid even the appearance of corruption or bias. Something Super Rugby should consider with their cost cutting.
Yep, that's my view too. Normally the ref is off limits, but if the prick is clearly cheating then why should the players have to accept that. They probably don't get a cent to play, in fact are most likely out of pocket, and would have to make some serious sacrifices to get to where they are. Why should they just take something so blatantly corrupt on the chin?
I remember playing once and the ref was one of the coaches for the other team. His cheating was so blatant it was hilarious. After one particularly appalling decision I felt like thumping the prick myself and if that had been a world cup qualifier and one of the most important games of my life then I possibly could have snapped. Probably wouldn't have hit him, but definitely unloaded on him.
At the end of the day this situation should never have arisen. Who is ultimately responsible?
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Let's keep in mind that there's no evidence the ref was cheating. At best he's out of his depth given his experience and language barrier.
The issue lies with the governing body.
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@antipodean you'd think they'd have learnt from all the other times a ref was given a match beyond his experience....
