Andy Farrell predicts referees will be 'red hot' come Rugby World Cup
Andy Farrell expects World Cup referees to be “red-hot” on foul play and says Ireland are striving to be rugby’s most disciplined team in the wake of another England red card.
Ireland benefited from the dismissal of England number eight Billy Vunipola on Saturday evening to retain their spot at the top of the global rankings by easing to a 29-10 Dublin success.
Vunipola’s second-half sending-off, for a high tackle on Andrew Porter, came a week on from team-mate Owen Farrell’s headline-grabbing red card against Wales.
England also had players sent off in their previous two fixtures with Ireland, with Charlie Ewels departing prematurely at Twickenham last year and Freddie Steward ordered off at the Aviva Stadium during the Six Nations in March, albeit that second decision was later overturned.
Ireland head coach Farrell feels there are “cards everywhere” at the moment and is determined to ensure disciplinary issues do not damage the World Cup ambitions of his Six Nations champions.
“It’s a red card that somebody will have a look at and make the right decision,” he said of the Vunipola incident. “It is what it is.
“We’re seeing more and more of that. It just highlights for us massively that it isn’t just the tackle height, it’s discipline in general.
“There are cards everywhere at the minute, isn’t there?
“And there’s a realisation as well that at the start of a competition, certainly in World Cups, referees are always going to be red-hot on stuff.
“So making sure that we’re the most disciplined side is something that we’re chasing down.”
Farrell welcomed back the bulk of his star names for their first international action since clinching Grand Slam glory against England five months ago.
Tries from Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose in a disjointed first half paved the way for victory before James Lowe, Mack Hansen and Test centurion Keith Earls added further scores following Vunipola’s 53rd-minute exit.
However, Dan Sheehan’s first-half departure due to a foot issue left Ireland with some cause for concern, particularly with fellow Leinster hooker Ronan Kelleher currently sidelined.
Farrell, who brought on Rob Herring in place of Sheehan, concedes the situation may become a worry but believes there is plenty of talent in reserve.
“Possibly, possibly,” he said. “Ronan’s going to be fine. The extent of Dan we don’t know.
“We’ve had Diarmuid Barron in camp as well, Tom Stewart’s been going great guns, so we’ll be fine.”
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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