Rugby had to be tough on Nowell with fine for the sake of the game’s future
This may not be something you expect to hear from an ex-player but I do really feel for referees when it comes to decisions on player welfare. In the 43rd minute of Exeter’s loss to Leicester last week, winger Olly Woodburn – who had previously received a yellow card – was handed a second card and sent off by referee Karl Dickson for “diving on a player on the floor”.
By the letter of the law, Dickson may have been correct in his application of the rules. But in reality, it was an unnecessary call.
In response, Woodburn’s non-playing Exeter teammate Jack Nowell tweeted: “I’m actually in shock, like shock shocked. What the hell is happening? That’s one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen. EVER.”
He was right to be hauled in front of a disciplinary committee on Wednesday for his comments, as the likes of Anthony Watson were in the past, and his punishment was revealed yesterday to be a £10,000 fine and the requirement to undertake a referees’ course. Rugby shouldn’t be airing its dirty rags.
I have no issue with the comment itself – it was a player expressing his view. But I do have sympathy with referees. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t, and at the moment rugby needs to demonstrate that it is being tough on dangerous play.
Players have a responsibility to use their platform to support the game. That’s not to say a player cannot disagree with Dickson’s call but they should consider the context.
There is a chance that the game we love could cease existing in coming years given discussions around head contact and concussion.
You have parents worrying about their kids getting brain damage and the game is at risk of being lost because we aren’t contextualising what the impact of head contact means.
But playing rugby comes with an accepted risk of getting hurt, right? So how do we show parents that the sport is taking itself seriously? By punishing dangerous play.
As I have said, Dickson will argue he followed the law book, and Nowell will say he has a right to an opinion, but both parties should use their platform to contextualise what’s going on.
Dickson needed to spend longer discussing the incident with his team and Nowell should have clarified what he was saying rather than simply raging.
Nowell on Wednesday faced his disciplinary committee under the threat that his ban could be longer than one handed out for a dangerous tackle, which is ridiculous. Thankfully, a ban was not handed to the departing Chief.
But in all of this, what sticks out to me? It is another week in the English Premiership where all of the conversation is not about a rugby game as a whole, but about a decision or situation that could have been avoided with better communication.
Top four battle rages on
The race is on for the top four, the race is on for the top eight and the race is on to avoid relega… hang on a minute.
The decision to scrap relegation may in the eyes of some prompted better rugby but at the crunch end of the season few can deny it takes the shine of any game at the bottom of the table.
On Friday Northampoton travel to bottom-placed Newcastle looking to keep their top four hopes alive; imagine this game if Newcastle were looking to avoid relegation too.
France’s system of relegation means every game matters – top two (home semi final), third to sixth (playoffs), top eight (Europe) and bottom two (relegation and relegation playoff). We need that here too.
I do think the Saints will topple Newcastle in the north east while Nowell’s Exeter will beat Bristol to keep their slim hopes alive.
Harlequins need two bonus point wins and I think they’ll get the first of those at Twickenham versus Bath while Sale could cement their home semi-final position if they beat Gloucester on Saturday, which i think they will.
On Sunday London Irish travel to their London neighbours Saracens with the top four in their sights. I believe Saracens will win this one but all eyes on the Stone X for London Irish to surprise everyone – the Exiles are my pick for shock of the weekend.
Let’s hope this weekend we can just focus on rugby, because the sport will not survive if all we are doing is arguing over tweets and opinions online.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development and behavioural change. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn.