Pro 14

[Sandydragon]

Edinburgh were much the better side in the second half and for the second time in a week copped a couple of irritating wrong decisions from the referee. .

I thought the TJ were awful but what do you expect from Ben Whitehouse , the amount of times Dragons were offside and to not give a penalty away.

For me the last tackle on Eds possible 4th try was a no arm tackle and should have been reviewed.

BUT going by the the Finn Russell red card at the weekend at least 5 Ed players could have been red carded in the last 4 mins of that game

An example of poor reffing, poor TMO , poor touch judges. The pro 14 really needs to work out how to deal with the quality of the officiating

There have been some real howlers this season. I think everyone has copped a poor decision at some point, but the officiating must be improved. At least neutral refs.

[whatisthejava]

There have been some real howlers this season. I think everyone has copped a poor decision at some point, but the officiating must be improved. At least neutral refs.

I understand during a pandemic reducing unnecessary travel is a solid plan.

But some of the decisions we see are so criminally biased

(yesterday I felt the ref got so fed up with it he started being overly harsh to the dragons because of the TJs/TNO only being interested when Edinburgh did something wrong.
(I'm pretty sure the ref asked the TMO to review the foot in touch, but the last tackle on Eroni Sau was clearly a no arm tackle)

What to do
I don't think expecting neutral TJ TMOs is feasible but clearly you need to get to the point where we have confidence that the TJ/TMOs are fair and we are not even close to that.

[whatisthejava]

I should also state ive seen dubious decisions from Irish/welsh, Italian and scots so its not a welsh are cheating bastards thing

Its all of them

[Son of Mathonwy]

You'd think the TMO could do the job remotely, so with the right technology we could at least have a neutral for that job.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I should also state ive seen dubious decisions from Irish/welsh, Italian and scots so its not a welsh are cheating bastards thing

Its all of them

I only notice it when the Irish do it .

(But you may well be right.)

[Spiffy]

I should also state ive seen dubious decisions from Irish/welsh, Italian and scots so its not a welsh are cheating bastards thing

Its all of them

I only notice it when the Irish do it .

(But you may well be right.)

Reminds me of the phrase that was quite popular on these boards about 15 years ago - "Bent Mick" referees. The days of hwntw et al when nationalistic scrapping was the norm, before everyone got all polite and politically correct.

[whatisthejava]

I felt a bit like a kunt writing it but incompetence evens out eventually - in that you cant be incompetent consistently against one team.

There is also a question of unbringing , wales, scotland and Ireland all play differently at the lower levels and therefore the refs focus on different things on their route to the top but once they are there i can only think of N Owens as a ref that has fundamentally changed the way he refs.

With CVC money they really need to get to the point where they have a completly individual impartial referee body that is funded equally by the unions but not answerable, whos job it is to take over ref training at the pro 14 level.

I know they say they have this, but if that was true explain Ben Whitehouse - a man that could be outsmarted by Gareth Davis pet turtle

[Sandydragon]

There have been some real howlers this season. I think everyone has copped a poor decision at some point, but the officiating must be improved. At least neutral refs.

I understand during a pandemic reducing unnecessary travel is a solid plan.

But some of the decisions we see are so criminally biased

(yesterday I felt the ref got so fed up with it he started being overly harsh to the dragons because of the TJs/TNO only being interested when Edinburgh did something wrong.
(I'm pretty sure the ref asked the TMO to review the foot in touch, but the last tackle on Eroni Sau was clearly a no arm tackle)

What to do
I don't think expecting neutral TJ TMOs is feasible but clearly you need to get to the point where we have confidence that the TJ/TMOs are fair and we are not even close to that.

Post pandemic this can’t continue. The ref may be completely unbiased but he shouldn’t be operating under any assumption that he might be biased. The problem now is that the TV replay will highlight the refs mistake and top class refs are few in number.

[Son of Mathonwy]

(OK I know this isn't Pro 14 but still) 35 points should be enough to win a match. Cardiff need to sort their defence out.

[Wallpaperman]

(OK I know this isn't Pro 14 but still) 35 points should be enough to win a match. Cardiff need to sort their defence out.

Didn’t see the game, but very disappointing to lose at the end. Seems a bit familiar. Would have been a good result to win there.

Ospreys lead 7-0 after 10 minutes, cracking try finished off by Kieran Williams

[Wallpaperman]

Another quality try 2 minutes later, Dan Evans this time.

[Wallpaperman]

Good 5 - 10 minutes for Newcastle who are on top at the set piece. Tipuric in the bin for a no arms tackle and a try from a tap penalty. Was looking very comfy for the Ospreys before that. Decent conversion, 14-7 on 34 minutes.

[Wallpaperman]

FIA having a bit of a nightmare. Is getting done in the scum and a midfield knock on almost lets Newcastle in again.

[Wallpaperman]

3 lineouts lost, too. Parry’s darts are off

[Wallpaperman]

Flaming Ada. It’s going to pieces. Beard done for pulling down a lineout, and yellow carded. Funny decision. Ospreys down to 13 and a penalty try to boot. 14 all on 39 minutes

[Wallpaperman]

A half of two halves. All Ospreys for 25 minutes, their backs looked a real cut above the opposition, and they were bossing the breakdown. Newcastle didn’t even have an attack in that period. But we’ve seen it before, the scrum and lineout go a bit wonky and now they are level and down to 13 men.

[Wallpaperman]

And that’s what happens when you are down to 13. Try Newcastle at the start of the second half, nice hands and a few tackles missed by the overstretched Ospreys. Another good conversion. 21-14 Newcastle now, Tipuric about to come back on but its about another 6 or 7 minutes before Beard gets back.

[Wallpaperman]

Fair play Ospreys, a cracking try. Tipuric with a fine finish, about 30 seconds after coming back on !

[Wallpaperman]

Ah, the pass to Morgan Morris looked ‘flat’, might be disallowed.

[Wallpaperman]

Shame, but it looked flat at best. Still 21-14

[Wallpaperman]

Ospreys win scrum penalty with 7 men, Beard back on. half an hour to go but they have work to do

[Wallpaperman]

More lineout woe, scrum half knocks on and another penalty to Newcastle. Lineout 10-12 metres from the Ospreys line

[Wallpaperman]

Dan Evans with a try saving tackle on the tight head. FIA replaced by Botha

[Wallpaperman]

Newcastle offside, Ospreys take the 3, 17-21 on 55 minutes

[Wallpaperman]

Almost a try for the Ospreys, Morgan Morris through, 8 metres out, Morgan-Williams loses the ball in the tackle