Wales rode their luck to secure Wayne Pivac an unlikely Six Nations Triple Crown. They now have a shot at the Grand Slam in this year’s competition.
This depends on whether they can beat Italy and France. The French side’s participation in the tournament is in doubt due to the abundance of positive Covid-19 cases within their squad. Their game with Scotland was already postponed.
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Six Nations Refereeing Controversy favours Wales
The game will be remembered for two controversial refereeing decisions by Pascal Gauzere which left rugby neutrals scratching their heads and England fans fuming.
Both decisions resulted in Welsh tries. Gauzere penalised the English captain Owen Farrell for not rolling away in the tackle. He then advised him that because of the number of penalties that had preceded it, Farrell would need to go and have a word with the rest of his team.
This Farrell did but in the meantime, a quick-thinking Dan Biggar asked the referee if he could take the penalty. Guazere said yes and blew his whistle. Wales’ number ten was extremely accurate with the kick giving Wales wing Josh Adams an opportunity to catch and touch down for the opening try.
Farrell remonstrated that England hadn’t had sufficient time to reset and that both teams waterboys were still on the pitch but to no avail. Try given.
The second controversial decision leading to a try was equally bizarre. Louis Rees-Zammit of Wales sped onto a kick through by his wing counterpart, Adams. Initially most thought Rees-Zammit had knocked on in trying to gather the kick. Liam Williams played on, gathered up the loose ball and slid over.
The award of the try went to the TMO. Footage of Rees-Zammit not being able to collect the ball which then hit his leg before hitting an English defender’s leg and then hitting the ground.
Technically there may have been an argument for awarding the try. Most however would describe what transpired as a knock-on. Regardless, the TMO stayed with the original on-field award of the try.
The final scoreline somewhat flattered Wales resulting in them picking up the Six Nations Triple Crown. Scores were tied going into the final fifteen minutes following tries from Kieran Hardy and Ben Youngs. England had looked the more cohesive and dangerous unit with ball in hand.
However, their penalty count continued to rack up. Callum Sheedy stayed calm and resolute, punishing their misdemeanours from the tee. Cory Hill added some gloss on the final score for Wales by going over for a late try.
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