Lucky Lions? The borderline call that decided the series ...Middle East

MELBOURNE — There is always a danger of confirmation bias when we hear from coaches about controversial incidents such as Jac Morgan’s ruck clear-out during the mad last two minutes that gave the Lions their series-winning, second-Test victory.

The Lions’ head coach Andy Farrell acknowledged as much when he stuck up for Morgan’s collision with the Australia back-rower Carlo Tizzano, in the last phase before Hugo Keenan’s try-scoring dive into the corner.

“I thought it was a brilliant clear-out,” Farrell said. “It depends which side of the fence you come from. I can understand people’s opinions.”

One of the opinions Farrell was referring to belonged to his opposite number, Australia’s Kiwi head coach, Joe Schmidt, who through the clenched teeth of an unhappy man brought up Law 9.20, summarised as “head contact and cleanouts around the neck must be penalised”.

Meanwhile, the ex-Wallaby captain Michael Hooper said: “Whether that is on head or neck or [Morgan] going straight to ground, if it is minute one that is a penalty.”

Sam Warburton breaks down THAT dramatic final play pic.twitter.com/EK1wztWL88

Schmidt also reckoned the timing of the incident – Keenan scored with the big screens in the vast bowl of the MCG showing 79 minutes 10 seconds – was integral to what he saw as the Italian referee Andrea Piardi favouring the Lions.

In many ways the last person we should ask for clarity in these spectacularly knife-edged moments is the one right on the sidelines of the “hurt arena”, as Farrell on a previous Lions tour memorably described the places players need to go – or be consigned to – in the pursuit of life-changing wins.

Such moments are almost guaranteed in rugby union, given the game’s inherent violence and the subjectivity of its laws.

It’s one of the reasons why people love it.

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In real time as a Lions record crowd of 90,307 leant forward in their seats wondering if an Australian side who had upped their game significantly from the previous week’s losing first Test in Brisbane were going to hang onto their lead of 26-24, Morgan’s actions looked worthy of a video review.

But that was partly due, you soon realised, to Tizzano having collapsed backwards holing a part of his head that had not been impacted, even if his neck possibly was.

That act dissipated sympathy for the Aussie view, as “Hollywood” play-acting is almost as verboten in rugby as the head contact the game’s lawmakers have been trying to sanction out of it for a few years now (with mixed results).

Or as Schmidt chose to put it: “Players make errors. Match officials make errors. Our perspective is we felt it was a decision that doesn’t really live up to the big player safety push that they are talking about.”

You could equally question whether Tizzano came in at the side of the ruck or, if we are quoting law numbers, how about 15.3 that requires a player contesting the breakdown to keep his head above the line of the hips – essentially to give the opponent making the clear-out a safe target to aim at.

The Lions’ fly-half Finn Russell was pretty dismissive of Tizzano, saying: “He obviously holds his head and tried to get a penalty from it but, nah, I think it was a brilliant clear-out.”

There again, Russell would have to be selfless beyond a reasonable capacity to say the referee was wrong and the series should instead be 1-1 with next weekend’s third Test in Sydney as the decider.

Was Piardi or any other referee going to be brave enough to overturn a Lions try – the finish was superb, by the way, as Jamison Gibson-Park scanned and scampered away from the ruck, and Keenan swerved round the tackle of Len Ikitau – in those borderline circumstances?

The inference by Schmidt that the match officials had both bottled the correct call and ignored a player’s safety in the process was the kind of blasé dissing of the officials that was rightly challenged in the after-match press conference, and he might reflect on that in a quieter moment.

For what it’s worth, this observer saw the collision as shoulder on shoulder, very close to being a penalty, but not quite. As another TV pundit, former Lions boss Warren Gatland, said: “I don’t know where Jac Morgan is supposed to go. I just think it’s a rugby incident.”

Right, that’s enough “you say, we say”, and thumbing of the lawbook.

This was high-stakes professional sport, and you could not detach the discussion from the sheer theatre of Piardi’s verdict being broadcast to the crowd. “Both players arrive at the same time,” he said. “We don’t see any foul play…”

At which point, thousands of men, women and children dressed in red leapt to their feet with fists punching the chilly Melbourne air and chanted “Lions, Lions,” while players in gold jerseys slumped crestfallen on the pitch.

The full-time scenes as the British & Irish Lions win the series with a game to spare in Australia! pic.twitter.com/oTndL9X7zI

There was also a faintly comical atmosphere as Schmidt was stating his case, thanks to the concurrent sound of the Lions’ players in full voice in their nearby changing room belting out their tour song, Status Quo’s “Rockin’ All Over the World”, with the final line of the chorus changed to something like “Oh Farrell and Captain Maro”.

As Farrell said: “The drama and how it unfolded makes it special. To be part of that is an honour.”

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He could have been referring to all sorts of thrills, from Australia’s blizzard of three tries in 16 first-half minutes, to the Lions’ quick response of two in four, to Tom Curry’s cover tackle on a nonplussed Joseph Suaalii that may have stopped Australia getting out to 33-17 with 25 minutes to go, and Bundee Aki’s line-break in the build-up to Tadhg Beirne’s try for 26-24 soon afterwards.

But let’s end at the beginning of this, which was the end of the match – and Maro Itoje’s cool chat with the referee, as the winning Lions captain moved quick-smart to make sure the Wallabies’ skipper Harry Wilson wasn’t the only one in Piardi’s ear.

“Naturally, their captain was trying to get his point across and, in my view, argue for something that didn’t happen,” Itoje said. “I guess I was just arguing for something that did happen.”

A series win, with a historic 3-0 sweep now the goal for the Lions, was what happened, wrapped up in big-time rugby’s beguiling mix of opinion-splitting decisions and the rawest emotions.

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