1
Andrew Brace withdrawn from refereeing duty in France over personal abuse
By Ian Cameron
The referee that oversaw the finale of the Autumn Nations Cup between England and France has been removed from Heineken Champions Cup duty in France next weekend due to the personal abuse he was subjected to by Les Bleus fans in the aftermath of the match in Twickenham. England beat France in sudden-death extra time with a kick from Owen Farrell, but the performance of Brace was heavily criticised by some rugby fans online.
A minority of fans went to the extent of leaving abusive messages on his late father's obituary which he had posted recently on Twitter.
Video after the game appeared to show that Brace and his fellow officials had missed a knock-on by England's Billy Vunipola in the lead up to a crucial try that was scored a few phases later. Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie touched down, forcing the game into sudden-death extra time.
Brace received hundreds of abusive messages on Twitter, as a result of what some fans perceived as decisions favouring the home side. Video footage also called in question some calls that in fact favoured the French in the lead-up to their first try, but this was conveniently missed by irate French supporters who seemed happy to scapegoat the Irishman.
As a result of the bitter aftermath of the game, the Independent are reporting that ECPR has taken the decision to remove Brace from reffing in France on the weekend of the 20th of December, a move which might have lead to further abuse.
Brace will now take charge of Wasps home game against Montpellier on the weekend of the 20th, instead of the Toulouse versus Exter Chiefs match the same day. It is being reported that the move was made so that Brace could avoid any further abuse by fans on the ground.
The ECPR said today: "Following a virtual meeting of a selection committee chaired by Joel Jutge, EPCR’s Head of Match Officials, it has been decided to make two referee appointment changes for Round 2 of the Heineken Champions Cup.
"Scotland’s Mike Adamson and Andrew Brace of Ireland will switch matches with Brace taking charge of Wasps v Montpellier in Pool A at the Ricoh Arena on Friday, 18 December while Adamson has been appointed to referee the Toulouse v Exeter Chiefs Pool B fixture at Stade Ernest Wallon on Sunday, 20 December."
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Nemani Nadolo: 'Now I cut grass, do gardens, cut hedges for a living'
3
Exclusive RugbyPass interview: Toulon co-captain David Ribbans
4
'One of the deadliest wingers in rugby' has decided his future
5
Latest Comments
I was at this match. Jordie Barrett earned his money with a massive hit to slow a connaught attack to win the math when Leinster had 14 in the last few mins. Mack Hansen had a real go at the refereeing after citing a serious head hits on Iaone and Aki.
connaught were up for this. Snyman tried a trademark dirty after, and the onnaught 4 and the onnaught pack absolutely laid into him.
Leinster hose to kick to the corner when only winning by 5 with 10 left and qith only 2 tries scored. onnaught should have punisihed them for that utter stupidity after they broke out and Leinster yellowed to stop the attack.
13 changes from last week. It seems teams are scoring about 10 points less against Leinster this year. With Neinaber in his second year, the new attack coah established, surely they will be a bigger threat in champions up? Or will the attack recgress further.
They must adopt the SA philosophy of take your 3 pointers and the bonus points will come.
connaught back line inluding Iaone, Murphy, Aki, Forde, cordero is the seond best in Ireland surely. Leinster were lucky here
Go to commentsShould have played more for England but he jumped ship just as he was breaking through.
Go to comments