Scotland fume at Rugby World Cup officiating after Jamie Ritchie injury blow
Gregor Townsend, the head coach, was shocked that Tonga wing Afusipa Taumoepeau did not receive a red card for his heavy hit on the captain who failed HIA.
At the Rugby World Cup, Scotland’s manager Gregor Townsend charged that officials were seeking for ways to avoid giving out red cards.
For a high tackle on Jamie Ritchie during Scotland’s 45-17 victory against Tonga on Sunday in Nice, wing Afusipa Taumoepeau was given a warning.
The Perpignan flier was reinstated after Taumoepeau was sin-binned and a bunker review was conducted by off-field officials. Scotland captain Ritchie will now be sidelined for 12 days after failing a head injury assessment.
The back-row forward will be out from Scotland’s critical match against Romania on Saturday in Lille, but he hopes to make up for it for the decisive Pool B meeting against Ireland the following week.
Townsend was upset that Taumoepeau was not given a red card and was forthright in his own appraisal of the officials’ performance.
When Townsend heard the referee explain it, “I didn’t think we would get an explanation, but what they said when I heard the referee explaining it was mitigation in terms of height,” Townsend said.
It’s very upsetting that our captain, one of our important players, got hit in the head and had to be taken out of the game because Jamie failed his HIA and was unable to return to the pitch.
“I believe that rather than focusing on what constitutes an illegal tackle and necessitates a red card, we are trying to look at ways not to give a red card.”
Ritchie’s loss didn’t derail Scotland, who defeated Tonga with seven tries and continued their Pool B campaign.
After losing to South Africa, Scotland must now defeat both Romania and Ireland to have a chance of making it to the quarterfinals.
When asked if Scotland would argue that South Africa and Ireland are favorites to advance to the round of 8, wing Kyle Steyn responded, “Damn yeah we’ll have something to say about that.
“România will be our main priority. We must win by five points there in order to guarantee a shootout when we arrive in Ireland.
