2023-10-19 20:47:12
For Rugbypass, international rugby union referee Nigel Owens returned to one of the contentious situations which marred the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup between France and South Africa, Sunday at the Stade de France . This concerns the possible forward move made by South African second row Eben Etzebeth. For Owens, who agrees with the referee of the match, the player was however “very lucky”.
Four days later, the controversy over several contentious refereeing decisions during the France-South Africa match, in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, last Sunday, has calmed down a little. And international referee Nigel Owens may have ruled out one of them in light of his expertise.
‘Etzebeth was very, very lucky’ for Owens
Asked by Rugby pass, the 52-year-old Welshman gave his opinion on one of the most pointed out situations, notably by French supporters: the intervention of Eben Etzebeth in the 7th minute of play. At that moment in the game , the Blues lead 7-0 and dominate their opponents. After several periods of play, Damian Penaud tries to find Thomas Ramos on the left wing but Eben Etzebeth intervenes by extending his right arm, appearing to commit a forward move. The match referee, New Zealander Ben O’Keeffe, ruled that the pass was backwards and allowed the ball to play. A decision that Nigel Owens understands.
“Etzebeth is very, very lucky. He goes with an outstretched hand, he has no way of catching the ball, so he tries to knock the ball back, which is legal as long as you throw the ball back. “back! If he had touched that ball and it had gone forward, then that would have been a deliberate kick-in and he would have received a fairly certain yellow card. When you look at the footage, there’s a lot of debate on this subject (…) it’s really a very, very difficult question. It is impossible to see 100% whether this ball has moved forward or backward (…) The referees’ point of view is to say that the ball went backwards – or not clearly forwards – and he had to play. But remember, he was very, very lucky.”
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