‘Disappointing' – World Rugby chief criticises Joe Schmidt but Australia coach won't be sanctioned for ref comments

Irish Independent

29-07-2025

However, the chief executive, Alan Gilpin, has said he is 'disappointed' by the New Zealander's allegation that the officials did not act in the best interests of player welfare when making the match-deciding call.
The decision not to give a penalty against Welsh flanker Jac Morgan for his clearout on Carlo Tizzano in the build-up to Hugo Keenan's try has dominated the aftermath of the epic Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh backing his coach and demanding answers from the governing body.
Waugh was alongside Gilpin at the launch of the ticketing strategy for the 2027 World Cup but made a hasty exit when the interview portion of the event began.
Gilpin opened his speech to address the refereeing controversy.
'Emotions understandably run very high when a compelling and fiercely contested match such as the one we saw goes down to the wire,' he said.
"In those tight contests, decisions made in crucial moments inevitably drive a lot of scrutiny.
"While, from a World Rugby perspective, we always say we do not publicly comment on match officials' decisions. Given the nature of the commentary surrounding last weekend, we just want to express our support for the match officials involved.
'There is no other position on the field that is under the scrutiny our match officials are under, and yet they do an incredible job under that pressure they are under in a live environment.
"I think it is fair to say that when the refereeing groups review decisions, they review them with the coaches and across the game.
"We are always proud to support our officials in that review process and that is what we are doing now and in the coming days with our colleagues from Australia and the Lions.'
Although he said he would not comment further on the matter, Gilpin chatted about the decision for eight minutes after the formalities had concluded.
And he confirmed that Schmidt, who worked for World Rugby as a director of rugby and high performance in 2020 and 2021, would not face any sanction for saying that Piardi's 'decision doesn't really live up to the big player safety push that they are talking about".
"I think it is disappointing when the reaction is one of, 'This means player welfare isn't taken seriously', because we have worked really hard on that narrative,' Gilpin said.
'Everyone knows we are putting player welfare, in its broadest sense, at the top of the agenda.
"You can see that from what we are doing with the instrumented mouthguards, all the research, the science, the investigations.
"The way the laws of the game have evolved in the last few years is all about, 'How do we have this great physical contest, but make it as safe as possible?'.
"That part is challenging, in terms of the player welfare statements [by Schmidt, etc], but we have a fantastic sport, played in front of an amazing crowd; an amazing game – it's going to create talking points. We know that. As long as that continues to be a respectful debate, then we've all got to lean into it.'
World Rugby handed Rassie Erasmus a lengthy ban for the video he recorded criticising Australian referee Nic Berry in the aftermath of the first Test between South Africa and the Lions.
Schmidt's comments did not go nearly as far as the Springbok supremo and as a result he will not face sanction.
"There's a lot of emotion, understandably,' he said.
"The Wallabies had a chance to win an amazing Test match, so we understand the emotion involved in that.
"Joe's comments have continued to respect the fact that the match officials have got a tough job to do. He might disagree with the decisions made, but I don't think he's called the integrity of our match officials into question.
'We won't talk publicly about that decision [of World Rugby's review].
"The decision's happened, the game's finished, we'll move on, we'll share, and we do share, with Joe and the coaching team, why the match official's made that decision.
"Joe's got a view about what was wrong with that decision-making, and there'll be a debate between them about that, so that Joe and his players can go into the next test, understanding how that game's going to be officiated.
'The breakdown is one of the toughest areas. We know that.
"We'll continue to work really hard with the match officials group to get consistency in the way that those key areas are officiated, and that provides, hopefully, the clarity to players and coaches. But like in any high-level sport, coaches are always looking for the edge with their teams, and we respect that.'
Schmidt is due to speak to the media when he names his team on Thursday.