"Four warnings?" - Everyone is asking the same question after Fiji's narrow loss to Wales
Rugby NewsSunday, 10 September 2023 at 22:42
In a thrilling World Cup opener in Bordeaux, Wales managed to withstand a dramatic late comeback from Fiji, securing the victory in a nail-biting 90-minute showdown.
Referee Matthew Carley's performance in the match drew praise from several respected journalists and former players, particularly for his ability to halt the clock whenever Wales attempted to waste time.
However, a major point of contention among viewers was the penalty count, which seemed to get out of control in the second half. .
Wales found themselves on the wrong side of a 17-9 penalty tally, with a significant portion of those infractions occurring just five meters from their own try-line.
Despite the penalty discrepancy, both teams received one yellow card each during the intense contest.
SOCIAL REACTION:
Former Scotland fly-half Ruaridh Jackson wrote: " Gutted for Fiji, Wales can thank Carley for that one. How they didn’t have more people in the bin was a joke."
Old school journalist Peter Jackson wrote: "Wales hang on to win the match of the weekend. Nick Tompkins terrific but @fijirugby have good reason to feel aggrieved at referee Matt Carley letting Wales off lightly. Penalty count 17-9 against Wales, one yellow card each."
Former England Lewis Moody tweeted: "If there was s one question post Wales v Fiji, I'd love to understand why Wales got so may warnings after repeated infringements and Fiji had 1 infringement and an imidiate yellow.?"
Fiji legend Nemani Nadolo wrote: "Yellow card after one penalty to wales 4 warnings ?. I’m confused."
Senior Editor of @LWOSRugby, Robert Rees tweeted: "I'm sorry, but how is Matthew Carley being consistent there? Yellow card straight away at one end, 4 pens at the other and nothing but a warning. Fiji burned by officiating there."
Provacative former England fly-half Andy Goode tweeted: "Is Matt Carley secretly Welsh? Feel for Fiji.:
Nigel Owens refused to be brought into the debate, tweeting: "Best game of the World Cup so far. Brilliant both teams. Da iawn Cymru well done Wales."
Former Togna international Cooper Vuna wrote: "
Bloody ell that was a incredible fight back. Well done @fijirugby Referee you magaitinana usi kaita’e
5 players who flopped on the opening weekend of the 2023 Rugby World Cup
We take a look at five players who failed to perform in the opening round of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
#1. Finn Russell (Scotland)
Planet Rugby 4/10: " Erratic at best. Scotland’s game driver did not drive anything in this one as he was clearly targeted."
Telegraph 6/10: "A mixed bag. Collared for two avoidable penalties and marshalled well when the Springboks slowed rucks. Found space with the boot and tackled courageously."
One fan wrote: "Three guarantees. Life, Death, Finn Russell going missing in a big game."
#2. Steven Kitshoff (South Africa)
The Rugby Paper 5.5/10: "Scrum penalties at the beginning but lost his way in the set piece before being replaced."
Rugby Pass 5/10: "Conceded a penalty in the scrum, which left him incredulous after the fact. For whatever reason the Springboks scrum didn’t fire as it normally does. Replaced by Ox Nche on 53 minutes"
#3. Santiago Carreras (Argentina)
Rugby Pass 4/10: "Yellow carded early on for a needless late tackle on opposite man Ford, although it did not prove too costly as the Pumas only conceded three points. Attempted a long-range drop goal of his own to rival Ford, but was well wide, which sums up how he was outplayed by his counterpart."
Planet Rugby 3/10: "Arguably cost his team critical momentum during that period. Comprehensively outplayed by his opposite number George Ford."
#4. Tom Curry (England)
Telegraph 2/10: “The flanker was overeager in defence after an injury, red-carded after a TMO bunker review for a slightly unfortunate head-on-head collision in the third minute.”
RUCK 0/10: “Sent off after just two minutes. Some may say unlucky, but the flanker really left the officials no choice.”
Planet Rugby 1/10: “Some said he was unlucky, but ultimately he was high in contact and paid the price. Fortunately, his team-mates bailed him out. “
Rugby Pass 0/10: “Was hailed in the build-up as the potential missing link for the England defence as he arrived in France without playing a single minute of the four-game Summer Nations Series. That idea quickly went out the window, though. “
The Guardian 2/10: “Palpably fired up before the match, having not played since May, but lasted less than three minutes before a red card, via the bunker, for an overzealous tackle on Juan Cruz Mallía.”
#5. Will Jordan (New Zealand)
Rugby Pass 2/10: “A bit of a shocker from the New Zealand wunderkind. Spent much of the game chasing high balls. Pinged for running under France fullback Thomas Ramos twice, with the second occurrence seeing him sent to the bin in the 58th minute.”
Stuff 3/10: “Conceded a yellow card in the second half as the All Blacks’ risky strategy of aggressively contesting high kicks backfired. Had already been penalised in the first half for a similar offence but ignored the warning sign – and it really hurt the All Blacks on the scoreboard. “
Planet Rugby 4/10: “he exciting winger tried to impose himself on the game and got it all wrong as he took Thomas Ramos out in the air twice.”
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