Walsh 'on Look-out' For Irish Tactics

marco_polo

Its no secret that Steve Walsh is an attention seeking git but have ye seen this?

WALSH 'ON LOOK-OUT' FOR IRISH TACTICS

By Alex Lowe, PA Sport

Ireland have been warned referee Steve Walsh will not stand for any so-called "cynical" breakdown tactics in their Six Nations clash with France.

Walsh was running the line at the Millennium Stadium for Ireland's 19-9 victory over Wales on Sunday and is said to have taken specific note of their approach to the contact area.

Wales claim they were denied a number of try-scoring opportunities, because referee Kelvin Deaker allowed Ireland to repeatedly kill the ball.

Frustrated assistant coach Nigel Davies revealed he had an "informal" chat with Deaker after the game - and that Walsh had vowed to crack down on Ireland when he takes charge at Croke Park on Saturday.

Davies said: "We put a lot of good stuff together, but it didn't come to very much because the Irish were allowed to kill the ball in key areas.

"It was one of the areas we made a big issue of in our meeting with the referee before the game.

"Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy, in particular, are very good exponents in the contact area. But in my view, it is quite illegal at times - so we spent a lot of time talking about that.

"The referee did call on a couple of occasions for (Irish) players to move away - but when they didn't move away he didn't react. I think he must have left his yellow card in the changing room.

"Steve said to one of the coaches after the game that he will be very mindful of that area next week, after seeing Ireland in that first half."

Davies warned that referees who fail to effectively control the breakdown risk leaving frustrated players with little option but to start digging the ball free with their boots, increasing the risk of a nasty injury.

"The only other alternative is to take the law into your own hands, and we don't want to be doing that," said Davies.

"That is why the referee has a duty of care."

Wales hooker Rhys Thomas added that players are left in a "catch-22 situation" - they do not want to give a penalty away for illegal rucking but still somehow need to free up the ball.

"It is difficult to know what to do," he said.

Wales hit back well after conceding a first-minute try to Rory Best and dominated Ireland for the next half-hour but were restricted to just three penalties, converted by Stephen Jones.

In addition to their complaints about the breakdown, Thomas believes Wales deserved a penalty try when a driving maul was collapsed just a metre short of the line.

"We should have had a try but we got pulled down. I think it should have been a penalty try," he said.

"I was at the back with Chris Horsman, and they were just pulling it down. It was really cynical - but they played the ref really well."

Winger Chris Czekaj also had claims for a second penalty try turned down, after he was brought down off the ball by Simon Easterby while chasing his own grubber kick.

But Davies conceded that refereeing decisions were not the only reason Wales were beaten by a more streetwise and experienced Ireland side.

The Irish regained the lead before half-time through O'Driscoll and clinched the win eight minutes from the end with a try from Ronan O'Gara.

Wales were hampered by the absence of key attacking figures like Shane Williams and Gareth Thomas and lacked the cutting edge to break down the Irish defence.

"There were three or four moments in that game which made the difference," said Davies.

"It was probably down to a little bit of inexperience by us - but that is what Ireland have in bags."

I think that is very unprofessional on his behalf. It gives the distinct impression that he is out to "get" Ireland from the word go.
An official complaint should be lodged as referees are supposed to be impartial parties, yet Walshs comments clearly indicate that he is not.
I am the first to admit that Ireland were very lucky to get away with the amount of messing going on at the breakdown, but this doesnt justify the knee jerk reaction Walsh is having.

On a side note I find it somewhat ironic that he is from New Zealand, the home of cheating and ball-killing.

damnyanks

He also says negative comments about the ref from the Wales game? Thats not the best thing to do.

Teg Veece

On the other hand, it could backfire and work to Ireland's advantage...

davyjose

As long as he's fair. The French have never been known to infringe But I agree - some disgraceful comments, hopefully there'll be a little bit of backlash and that remark backfires.

Marshy

Yeah referees like him who always want to be at the centre of attention irritate me.

marco_polo

damnyanks wrote:

He also says negative comments about the ref from the Wales game? Thats not the best thing to do.

Who is one of the touchjudges for the France game I think. :eek:

Jilm

Steve Walsh is becoming the Gavin Henson of rugby refs.

Expect him to start dating chunky welsh girls and a new autobiography coming out every other year.

Iompair

It might be good for Rugby in general, if referees started clamping down on those tactics, but singling out Ireland to be watched is a bit laughable. Especially from a New Zealander.

It'll be interesting to see what happens on Sunday.

mikedragon32

Iompair wrote:

It might be good for Rugby in general, if referees started clamping down on those tactics, but singling out Ireland to be watched is a bit laughable. Especially from a New Zealander.

It'll be interesting to see what happens on Sunday.

My thoughts exactly.

Besides, as a touch-judge, if he saw infringements on Sunday, surely he was in a position to inform the ref, who could award penalties, sin-bins etc.?

The other thing about the article is that there are no quotes directly attributable to Walsh, merely from the Wales coaching staff who say they spoke with him.

Marshy

mikedragon32 wrote:

Besides, as a touch-judge, if he saw infringements on Sunday, surely he was in a position to inform the ref, who could award penalties, sin-bins etc.

Yeah, but I doubt that would have gone down well with the actual ref. It would be showing a lack of confidence in how he's refereeing the game. I'm sure a ref wouldn't want a touchjudge to be questionning his decision making.

From my limited knowledge of this so-called ball killing, it comes down to the ref's interpretation of the rules. Its seems like quite a grey area really.

LostinBlanch

I caught the last half of EOS being interviewed about this on Newstalk and he said that Walsh made a mistake in talking to the wrong people who stitched him up! They had a clear the air meeting last night and that both he and the players are happy that Walsh is going to referee the breakdown differently. Also Walsh agreed that in hindsight after watching the video that Ireland weren't doing as much wrong at the breakdown as he thought initially.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating I suppose.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

davyjose

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/irish/6341533.stm
Seems he's had an involuntary change of heart. I wonder if this could play into our hands a little bit!

[Jackass]

Remarkable a Ref would make public comments like that..

Anyway, I'd imagine after that "talk" EO'S knows exactly what Ireland will and wont get away with, so very much to our advantage...if you know how the ref will react to your tactics you have a major upper hand when trying not to conceed penaltys and how to kill the ball and get away with it.

LostinBlanch

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Good spot Dave. I wonder will that get into the papers before the weekend?

il gatto

Wales spent alot of the game coming in from the side and not staying on their feet too. They just lost.
As far as being out to "get" Ireland, I spent some time in the lead up to the game perusing some Welsh rugby fora, and apart from the laughably misplaced confidence of giving Ireland a thumping, the other thing which struck me was the amount of nasty, vitriolic comments about the Irish team and fans. One thread was "Ireland: The dirtiest captain in world rugby and the most arrogant fans." I was shocked to see the animosity from so many posters. Maybe it's because they were used to being better than us, and they don't like the way the pendulem has swung. Maybe it's because they're the crappiest of the Celtic nations (not in rugby terms. That'd be Scotland right now:D )

An Tarbh

well we've been consistently getting the better of them for the last 25 years so obviously a lot of bitterness there.

As for Walsh, I know he didn't make the comments in public, but to be mouthing off to the Welsh assistant coach is a bit strange, he may well have been placating him but the fact that they were made public has done him no good.

Will be interesting to see if he has anything to say to Shaggy as well.

Eoin

Marshy wrote:

Yeah, but I doubt that would have gone down well with the actual ref. It would be showing a lack of confidence in how he's refereeing the game. I'm sure a ref wouldn't want a touchjudge to be questionning his decision making.

It's quite common for a touch judge to raise his flag to indicate some foul play he saw, and that the referee didn't. I think I've even seen this for forward passes etc. I am sure the officials have a chat at half time anyhow.

However, implicitly criticising the ref after the game is very unprofessional.

More stories about him:
http://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/09/1068329418574.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3229493.stm

LostinBlanch

That's just made me feel less comfortable now.