Morgan produced 'perfect' clearout

BBC News

a day ago

Former World Cup final referee Nigel Owens says Wales flanker Jac Morgan performed the perfect clearout in the build-up to the British and Irish Lions series winning try against Australia. The Lions clinched a 29-26 victory in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground but there was high drama in the closing seconds in the build-up to Hugo Keenan's late score as the match officials examined a clearout by Morgan earlier in the move.Captains Harry Wilson and Maro Itoje attempted to influence referee Andrea Piardi during the decision-making process, before it was eventually judged Morgan's contact with Carlo Tizzano was legal.
If Keenan's try had been chalked off, the series would have gone to a decider in Sydney next Saturday. Instead, the Lions have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead.Coaches Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt afterwards took opposing views of the refereeing call.Australia boss Schmidt stated it brought player safety into question but Owens believes Morgan's action were legal."It was the perfect clearout," Owens told BBC Radio Wales.
Quoting the law
Law 9.20 states: "A player must not charge into a ruck or maul without binding onto another player."It also states that "making contact above the line of the shoulders with an opponent is a dangerous play and is prohibited"."I know some people in Australia are quoting the law and saying he is going in low," said Owens."But if you are quoting the law you have to recognise both players were low coming into the ruck."Welshman Owens retired from international duties in 2020 after officiating in 100 Test matches, including the 2015 World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham.The incident has divided opinion with Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh demanded World Rugby explain the controversial decision."There are a couple of things you need to judge here," said Owens."First of all, are Jac Morgan's actions legal? Is he coming in low and are the arms out ready to wrap and clear out? "If he wasn't doing that and leading with his shoulder then you have foul play and a penalty."His actions are perfect in the way you would expect a player to clean out."The incident was more dramatic as Tizzano fell backwards holding his head after Morgan's action."There is a chance the Australia player who has come into the ruck has not come through the gate but that's irrelevant in the outcome because if there was foul play it would trump that," said Owens."The Australia player gets in and he is very low. This happens throughout the game and you see many of these incidents."Jac goes in and tries to get in very low or underneath him to clear him out. So it's textbook clearing out for me."The only time this would be illegal is if the Australian player was in that position and Jac was a couple of seconds later arriving and he had time to readjust, then there would be conversations about foul play."Because it is relatively dynamic, as the referee has explained, both of them are pretty much there simultaneously."The Australian player gets there a split second before, but Jac is already coming in with a legal clearout, so there is no foul play."