The Wallabies edged past the Barbarians 31-28 with nine tries scored during their meeting at Allianz Stadium in New South Wales on Saturday morning.
With Quade Cooper leading the BaaBaas against the side for which he has 70 international caps we were expecting an exhibition of typically fun and flowing rugby, but instead those who tuned in saw a stop-start game filled with errors and penalties, with the Barbarians finishing with 13 men due to two late yellow cards.
Kiwi referee Brendon Pickerill has come in for criticism for the manner in which he officiated the game, and his decision to disallow an 'up the jumper' Barbarians try appears to have rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way.
BaaBaas coach Alan Jones has since revealed that he informed the referee before the game that there would be trick plays involved as this was an exhibition game intended for the players to show off their skills, but when a crazy throwback trick-play resulted in a try, the ref was having none of it.
Like something out of a Disney movie. It is against the rules after a try was scored in that manner back in 1975 which introduced a rule change, but the Barbarians players seemingly thought it would be allowed for the day that was in it.
Instead, Australia took the win as Sam Moore scored while Quade Cooper was sin-binned for a late hit as the BaaBaas were already without Taqele Naiyaravoro due to a deliberate knock-on.
Speaking to the media after the game Alan Jones claimed that if that is how rugby games are being officiated, he is delighted to not be involved with the sport on a more regular basis.
I am really proud of my people but if that’s the way you grow the game, then it’s most probably a good thing I am not in it. I just found the whole thing astonishing.
It’s a Barbarians game and you are playing with 13 men, and the bloke kept blowing the whistle. I think it was 16 penalties to 4 or something. So we are four times more disciplined than them? Thank God I am out of the game.
It's not a charity match, but it's not a test match either, so you would think that the coach giving the ref a heads up regarding the trick plays would have made it clear how they were approaching the game.
It's a difficult one for the referee, as he can only judge the game how he sees it according to the rules, but should the men in the middle ease up when the Barbarians are involved?
[via DailyTelegraph.com.au]
