Nigel Owens explains why Fiji's Levani Botia wasn't red-carded
Nigel Owens has given his verdict on the yellow card shown last Sunday night to Fiji back-rower Levani Botia and explained why it ultimately wasn’t deemed to be a red card offence by the TMO bunker.
The score was tied at 10 points all 10 minutes into the second half in Toulouse when Botia made head-to-head contact with the ball-carrying Portuguese winger Rodrigo Marta.
Referee Luke Pearce sin-binned Botia and signalled that a foul play review would take place after the match restarted with a penalty.
In the end, Botia’s offence wasn’t seen as something that merited a red card and he returned to the field of play to see out the remainder of a match that Fiji lost 24-23 but still qualified for next Sunday’s quarter-final versus England in Marseille.
If Botia was red-carded, he potentially faced a suspension that would have ruled him out of facing the English. Instead, he is available for selection and Owens explained why in the latest episode of the Whistle Watch programme that he presents.
“Fiji-Portugal, some of you are asking why this wasn’t a red card. Well, what we have first of all is does it reach the threshold of a yellow card to be sent to the bunker? Yes, it certainly does. It’s foul play, we have had head contact neck area, so it goes to the bunker to be reviewed.
“The bunker now will look at if there are any mitigating factors here that I don’t give a red card for. And yes there is. What we have is a slight step by the Portugal player which then causes the contact to be where it is.
“So a good review by the bunker mitigated down from a red to a yellow because of the mitigating factor of that step by the player which then contributes to where the collision took place. And that’s what we want from the bunker, good accurate decisions.”
Owens also referenced the spider cam, the camera that overhangs the pitch that was hit by the ball during the final round of matches at the World Cup. “It happened in a couple of games over the weekend; it’s also happened to me in the past as well,” he said.
“It happened to me out in Australia-England in Sydney in 2016. I played on. I was wrong and this is why. When we have the ball touching something that is not within the field of play, touches something that is not usually there, for example the spider cam, this is what applies:
“The team last in possession, the team kicking were last in possession of the ball because the opposition haven’t gained possession of it yet, so the put-in will be to them.
"The place will be actually where it hit the spider cam, a scrum down just below that because we can’t take into account where the ball may have gone next or what would have happened next.
“So quite rightly so, scrum down, scrum underneath where the ball comes off the spider cam and the team last in possession. So let’s hope the spider cam gets a bit higher from now on.”
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> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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